Clouds In Front Of The Moon
by RavenDesk
Summary: vampirefic Dreams are messages from your subconscious, so what are nightmares?
1. Wake Up

**AN:** Before I begin I'd just like to say that I've always loved vampires– even admired them. There are so many theories of how they came to be, if they're real or not, what repels them and how they live. They're so...interesting, it's hard not to be facinated by the concept of one who lives on other's blood. There have been plays and movies and books and radio shows about these creatures since the spoken word came to be. I hope to offer my own theories to you through this story.

EDIT: This is an edited version, blah blah blah cliche it's-so-better-now blah blah blah oh mah gawd a pony. Anyhoo, I hope this works. It's maybe, oh...1 rung above Shit on the Joyous Ladder of Fun?

And now, my lovelies, I present to you:

**1.1****(That's so sick)**

**Der Schwan (The Swan [stanza one)**

**This toil and struggle– passing on, ponderous**

**and as if bound, through what remains undone,**

**is like the makeshift walking of the swan.**

Naruto shot up from where he was laying. His head spun, and his back was too hot. There was some sort of weight on top of it, despite the fact that he'd risen so quickly. He rubbed his forehead with a hand, surprised to find that a noticeable layer of sweat was covering it. His cheeks were hot, but not in a blushy kind of way, and his feet were tangled in sheets to a point where he felt trapped. His tongue felt thick, and his _skin_ seemed to hurt, if that was even possible. Acid sloshed around in his stomach. He felt ill.

Naruto turned around sluggishly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He was on a couch. A brown couch. Cushions that looked like they might have once been very comfortable were shoved around in such a way that told him something dramatic had happened recently. A scuffle, perhaps. A kidnaping, or something of the sort.

It was only when the weight on his back groaned and shifted did Naruto realize that arms were hanging off his shoulders and it was a _body_ was on his back. Naruto turned around to find one Uchiha Sasuke leaning on his back, peacefully asleep.

He leaped off the couch wondering what in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was going on-- and then took another great big leap to the bathroom to let his stomach do him the favor of making room for breakfast. There wasn't much to get rid of.

When the acid stopped jumping up his throat, he sat, sprawled on the floor: gasping, resting his forehead on the cool porcelain of an unfamiliar bathtub. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened. He'd been with Sasuke yesterday-- scratch that, he'd _run into_ Sasuke– at a _bookstore_, of all places– and they'd found that they had a lot to catch up on. They hadn't seen each other in a long time, even though they used to be best friends back in high school. So they went to a little café Sasuke knew and had bagels and coffee and they talked. They talked for a long time, until the owner was putting the chairs on the tables and the last dregs of coffee in their mugs were cold. They walked out the door after closing and...

...And then Naruto woke up on this couch with a leprechaun in his gut who was, apparently, loyal to his morning calisthenics. What _happened?_

He sat quietly, breathing through his nose. He heard movement from the couch and a deep, guttural groan that he assumed came from Sasuke. He didn't dare open his eyes. Maybe, he thought, if I don't move and I don't look, I'll be invisible. Maybe if I make no movement or noise, he won't see me. He froze, nearly stopped breathing, when he heard soft, shuffling footsteps headed in the direction of the bathroom. A shadow blocked out the swirls of color behind his eyelids, and then the toilet flushed near his head.

A cool hand pressed into his forehead, and Naruto sighed in comfort. His throat was sore from vomit, and blood pounded in his forehead as if he had run a marathon. "Naruto." A voice, cool as the hand resting on his forehead, spoke to him. "Do you feel okay?" Naruto opened his eyes. Sasuke. It was Sasuke standing over him, Sasuke in sweat pants looking concernedly at Naruto. Sasuke.

_Sasuke._

Naruto sat up quickly, and immediately wished he hadn't. He spun backwards and heaved into the toilet once again, embarrassed beyond belief that his old best friend, the one person he hadn't seen in _forever_, had to watch him lose his chunks. He coughed a few times, and then, wiping vomit off his chin, rasped out, "Do I _look_ okay?"

Sasuke frowned. "No, you don't. Sorry, that was a stupid question. Come on, let's get you some water. Fluids should help drive out whatever's doing this to you, cleanse your system." Naruto used the edge of the bathtub to hoist himself up, swaying as he did so. He glanced into the toilet, hoping that what was in _there_ was the last of it. He pulled the lever, and it was washed away down the pipes.

He still didn't know what was going on, or where he was exactly, but Sasuke seemed to know where he was going. As Naruto followed him through short, green-painted hallways lined with a mirror and some photographs to a tiny, open kitchen area, he marveled at how..._at home_ Sasuke was. Naruto's vision was swimming, so he held onto the counter as Sasuke grabbed a tall glass and filled it with cold water, avoiding the dirty pots and pans that were already sitting, waiting to be washed. He handed it to Naruto, who gulped it down gratefully.

"You can sit down, if you like." It was then that Naruto noticed the small table and chair that sat by a window. He nodded and dropped ungracefully into the wooden seat, his glass drained. Sasuke immediately took it from him and refilled it straight from the tap. Naruto sipped this one more slowly, watching as Sasuke pulled a stool from against a wall over to the other side of the table and sat down. The stool wasn't meant for a table, more likely for a counter, and so Sasuke loomed awkwardly. Naruto leaned sideways against the wall, staring out the window at the sight before him: a city, gray in either dawn or dusk, covered with fog, sat calmly outside the glass. They were on one of the higher floors, that much he could tell. It was serenely beautiful.

He dragged his gaze back to Sasuke, who was looking at him intently. However, instead of looking away like he normally would have, Naruto held the gaze as he asked his question. "Where am I– where are _we_?" He tripped over his words as he corrected himself. His hand was glued to the cup of water. His throat no longer burned, but it still felt like he'd swallowed sandpaper. His head was clearing up. "What happened?"

Sasuke's gaze didn't wander, nor was it broken by blinking. "Simple. My apartment. It's a bit shabby, but I think it's well worth the view, don't you?" Finally, that intense stare was broken by a calm smile. He then turned to look out the window. "I always love this time of day. Even though cities supposedly never sleep, this fog makes things appear as if absolutely nothing is awake."

Naruto pressed on, leaning forward slightly. "Yes, but _what happened_? I remember talking with you at that coffee shop, and then...this. What happened _in between_?" Sasuke blinked, and suddenly Naruto got the feeling that a barrier had been set up between Sasuke and himself.

Sasuke spoke to the window. "It was late; the subway was closed, and I live near the coffee place, so I offered to let you crash here for the night. You accepted, saying that that would be great, and we came back here. I don't have a bed because my apartment is so small. I'm sure you noticed?" Naruto looked around quickly. It was true, the space may have seemed open, but it was rather small. "The living room is actually supposed to be the bedroom, you know. And my floor is pretty dirty, so we both just slept on the couch. I don't usually have people stay overnight."

"Oh." And with that one little utterance, the barrier was full-strength. For some reason, Naruto did not believe that Sasuke's answer was the _whole_answer. There was a certain way Sasuke sat, his posture, perhaps, that made Naruto feel as if he had disappointed Sasuke somehow; as if he had not asked the important question. Or maybe he had, and something was wrong with the answer.

An awkward silence ensued. "Well..." Naruto began, "I'm sure you have a lot of things to do today. I know I do. I...have to get going. I'm meeting someone for lunch--"

Sasuke's head whipped back to face Naruto, who was feeling very uncomfortable. His eyebrows were raised. "So soon? The sun isn't even fully up yet. It's barely even six AM!" Ah, Naruto thought. It's morning. Morning fog.

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit of his, one he was sure Sasuke would have remembered. "Ehehe, yeah, it's pretty important."

Sasuke leaned forward on his stool. "Oh, really? What's so important about it?"

Naruto was starting to feel uncomfortable. Like he was being interrogated. He rubbed harder. "Erm, actually, I might get published. Remember I told you about my book? The cookbook."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah. It sounded interesting, from what you told me."

"Right. Well, see, a publishing company called me a while back; today's lunch is mostly just for them to meet me, a chance for us to discuss what sort of deals we might make around the book in a casual setting."

"Okay..."

"And if I showed up looking like I hadn't changed my clothes in a few days–which I haven't– and smelled like I'd gone Dumpster diving, well, that wouldn't really make a good impression."

"All right then." Sasuke swooped down from his perch, grabbed Naruto's empty glass, and plunked it in the sink. "Since you're feeling better, I suppose I can let you go. Be free!" He started to scrub hard at a pot in the sink.

Naruto stared. "Are you angry?" Talk about bipolar. As far as Naruto remembered, Sasuke didn't used to be like this.

Sasuke whipped around to look at Naruto. He stared hard for a minute before saying, "No. I'm not angry. Just frustrated."

"But_why_?"

"Because--" He stopped and turned back to the pot. Then, in an overly-cheery voice, he chattered, "Never mind. It's just that I haven't seen you in so long, and now you have to leave again. We talked for so long yesterday, and there's still a lot I need--" he coughed, then quickly corrected himself– "_want_ to talk to you about..." He trailed off, the false happy note fading. "Yeah, never mind. See you later!"

Naruto stood up carefully; he still felt a little dizzy, but he had a sudden desire to reassure Sasuke that nothing had changed between them. "Listen, man, I've known you for _years_– you being my best friend is never going to change, all right? Here, here's my number. Call me sometime, I've got this great deli you've gotta see." He scribbled his phone number on an old receipt in his pocket and set it on the counter. "See you later?" He held out his fist.

Sasuke paused before hitting it with his own, as per tradition. He smiled, but it was a sad one. "Yeah. Later."

Naruto grabbed his messenger bag from where he found it by the door and left, walking down endless flights of stairs. This further confused him as to why he couldn't remember anything after coffee, or how he'd gotten there. Wouldn't he have remembered climbing all those steps?

As he descended, Naruto thought about several things. First and foremost was his lunch with the company rep. But after that, he thought about all the confusing things that had happened with Sasuke. A few times, he was even tempted to turn back to continue their conversation, figure out what was up. Sasuke had looked so tired, like he hadn't really eaten well for a while. And their conversation...on Sasuke's part, it seemed like only half the words were getting out his mouth out of what he wanted to say.

Oh well. He would go home, shower and eat a light breakfast, maybe do some grocery shopping. The weather forecast he'd seen yesterday had predicted sunshine, so maybe he could even take a walk before heading over to the restaurant.

----

It was only when he'd stripped down and was about to step into the shower did he notice the twin marks on his neck.

**File continued in 1.2 (Into The Water)**

Ending note:

This was written over a period of 3 days, snippets written down on stray pieces of notebook paper. I apologize if any of this seems inconsistent, if the grammar or spelling is off, or if I made a good idea go from Super to Stupid. Forgive me.

And now that _that's_over...that purple button looks lonely. Poke it. That's like sexual harassment for the poor thing. :D Though at this point I think it's pretty desperate...

Hyde n Psych


	2. Into The Water

**Beginning Note: PLEASE READ THIS.**

**I need a new title**. A title is everything for a story, the icing on the cake. If title looks interesting, a reader may be gained. I take all suggestions into consideration, so don't be shy! Please. Give me some idea of what you think. Suggestions of what I can put into the summary would also be a lot of help.

**AGAIN: I NEED A NEW TITLE. **And now, I present to you:

**1.2 (Into the Water)**

**Der Schwan (The Swan) (stanzas two and three– ending)**

**And dying– this letting-go**

**of that ground we stand on every day,**

**is like his uneasy letting himself down–:**

**(new stanza)**

**into the water, which recieves him gently,**

**and which, as if happy in its passing,**

**withdraws beneath him, wave on wave;**

**while he, quiet and infinitely assured,**

**with ever greater majesty and freedom**

**and serenity is pleased to glide.**

It didn't seem such a huge thing. So he had a couple bruises on his neck. They weren't all that huge, and they didn't hurt. Maybe he just need more iron, or protein, or whatever it was. He'd probably just injured himself in the bathroom that morning. All he'd need to do was get some fish or something for dinner and make sure he took his vitamins and he'd be fine.

Naruto was currently rushing towards the restaurant. Normally he'd have already been there, having saved the reservation, but he'd momentarily freaked out over the bruises (just 'cos he didn't usually bruise so easily) and then taken too long in the shower and figuring out what to wear and if his teeth were clean and trying to judge how long it would take him to floss. No doubt the representative was already there, waiting for him to arrive. He cursed inwardly to himself. What sort of impression would _this_ make?

In the restaurant, he looked around for the table. He didn't know what the person he was meeting looked like, only a name: Cairo Stevens. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. He had sent a picture of himself to the company, so he hoped that at least the person meeting him would recognize him and signal him to their table.

---

As he searched, a woman sitting at a table in the far back by the fish tank looked up. She saw a tall blonde man who fit the description of the person she was meeting nearly exactly. She raised her arm and waved enthusiastically. So she was finally going to meet this 'genius' author! She was excited. Cookbooks were a dime a dozen if you knew where to look, but something like what this Uzumaki character was offering was rather rare. And she was finally getting a– if you'll excuse the pun– taste of what sort of person he was.

---

Naruto saw a woman with curly hair piled high on her head wearing a purple suit-dress waving at him eccentrically. His first impression was that she was waving at someone behind him. He turned– no one there. So, of course, he assumed it was he she was waving at and headed over.

He sat down nervously, dropping his bag by his feet. He was sweating bad. This person– Cairo Stevens– seemed nice enough, if a bit out there, but he was terrified that something would go wrong.

"Hey!" She reached over the flower arrangement to shake his hand. She had a strong grip. "So, I'm going to assume you're Mr.Uzumaki?" Naruto nodded. "Awesome! I've been hearing so much about your book!" She smiled– no, more correctly, she beamed– and picked up a laminated menu. "But I reeeeally don't want to talk about that before I eat. This sort of thing always makes me soo nervous. I'm afraid I'll ask the wrong questions or forget something. You get that, don't you? I mean, honestly, I think the people on the other side of the restaurant can tell you're freaking out. Relax! I won't bite."

Naruto's laugh came out strangled-sounding. His hands were sweating enough to fill lake Eerie.

---

"Hahaha, ohmigod, no way!" Cairo and him had scooched their seats closer together over the course of the meal. It had started when she'd dropped her fork on the floor, seen Naruto's bag and the appendage sticking out of it, and gotten curious. Before Naruto could even say anything, she'd pulled the prototype of a book Naruto was working on as a side project– a children's book. A _pop-up_ children's book. Cairo was currently flipping through it, laughing along with Naruto as the different collage-styled pictures jumped out of the page.

"Hehe, yeah, I spent a lot of time on this, mostly just for fun. I have a couple nephews who live a ways away. They're still pretty small– I thought they might like something like this." Naruto was grinning from ear to ear. He loved this particular book even more than the cookbook he'd come to talk about in the first place. "I love collage. I carry this one around with me pretty much everywhere because sometimes I'll see a bit of writing or a picture that I want to use and this way I can just stick it in the pages to use later." He held the book lovingly. It was really a sketchbook with collage and paint and other bits of paper cleverly attached to create the effect of a pop-up, and it was filled with love.

"Have you ever thought about sending that in to a publisher?" Cairo shot him with a fairly serious look, something that Naruto had learned in the last hour was a rare occurrence. "Our company doesn't really do children's books, but I'm sure you could easily find someone to take yours. This kind of reminds me of Leo Lionni's style of illustrations. You know who he is?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I used to read his stories all the time, just for his pictures. But his is, I assure you, completely different."

"Of course!" Cairo's eyebrows jumped up. "You use less watercolors and more of a mixed media style that draws in the eye and makes your attention jump from page to page rather than laze along and make you sleepy. Your book's pictures are more interactive, something I personally find to be wonderful." She smiled. Naruto smiled back shyly, almost trying to hide it.

Suddenly he sat up straight again and pushed empty plates out of the way. "Wait wait wait! We came here to talk about my cookbook, right?"

"Right."

"And to talk business, right?"

"Right. Of course."

"So why are we talking about my side project? I hate to leave early, but I have to feed my cat by four or he'll start to rip my couch." He glanced at his watch. It was already two. He drummed his fingers on the cover of the pop-up. "So. Details. Let's get this over quick. And then we can get back to the fun stuff."

---

An hour later, a much more confident Naruto left the restaurant. He'd made a great deal that Cairo was going to pass on to her supervisor. If his book sold (which, Cairo assured him, it would) he'd be able to live for a while off of just that one book's revenue. He'd been told the names of a few companies to look into about the childrens' stories as well, which made him feel a general sense that something good was going to happen.

As he walked past a corner café he smiled to a man at one of the outside tables and said, "Lovely day, isn't it?" and kept walking. His good mood lasted him the rest of the day: The groceries he bought seemed to be beautiful, the store clerks appeared to be the nicest people in the world; even the clouds that had started to cover the sky looked serenely harmonious.

The only bad thing was when he got home– Freud had started to attack the couch. A large gash adorned by ribbons of cloth was revealed when Naruto rounded the corner. Stuffing spilled out. Freud stopped abruptly when Naruto came in the room and froze at exactly the same time. He stared, tensed, at Naruto for just a minute as if to say, _What? Oh, right. Crap!_ and then ran down the hall.

Naruto dropped his bags and chased after his cat. "SIGMUND LEO FREUD!! YOU STUPID CAT, WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!" He sprinted down the hallway into the bathroom (where Freud'd gone), shut the door so he couldn't escape, and flipped on the light with a snap. Freud was nowhere to be found. Naruto quickly bent around to peer under the toilet, behind the sink, and inside the towel rack. Nothing. Finally, he came to the last place it would have been possible to hide.

"Okay, kitty, I know you're in here somewhere..." He tiptoed over to the shower curtain and took hold as silently as he could. "And I _know_ you know you did something wrong. So, the only question is, how shall I punish you? Outside for a week? Canned food? Kick you out of my room so you have to sleep somewhere cold at night? All right, Mr.Witty, I _found_ you!" He ripped open the curtain to reveal–

Nothing. Freud wasn't there. Not cowering in the tub like the scaredy-cat he was. Not trying to escape out the other side of the curtain. "Wha...?" Naruto whipped his head around in hope of seeing a flash of gray fur. And yet he saw not even a single ash-colored hair.

"Damn it! This'll be the third time I have to get my couch re-upholstered! God!" He stormed out of the bathroom and went to pick up the fallen bag of dinner items, which were probably ruined. At the very least, the vegetables were going to bruise. He sighed forlornly at the massacred side of his couch and got on hands and knees to retrieve a stray tomato.

"Stupid, stupid cat. Dumb, demented, retard cat. I swear to _God_, if I had enough money I'd buy the thing it's very own room _full_ of couches! It's a spoiled little thing." The shelter said he'd be gentle as a kitten– and he was, as long as he was still a kitten. Stupid cat'd even been intelligent, hence the name. Could play floor hockey with an apple, something Naruto had had fun showing to his friends. Could howl along to the piano music on a CD, right down to the perfect note. Could tell the difference between good food and bad, something that had been annoying (but, Naruto had to admit, very intriguing. He had to make Siggy's food from scratch, and the cat would come running whenever he heard the smack of beef hitting the cutting board.) but which Naruto had gotten used to.

Heading into the kitchen, Naruto set down his bag of groceries on the counter and headed for the blender. He had chunks of meat all ready to be made into Freud's next meal; all he had to do, really, was toss them in the blender with some liver and turkey and some supplements to keep his kitty happy.

Thus, gooshey food was made. Freud appeared out of nowhere, nuzzled Naruto's forearm, and set to work demolishing the meal.

While the cat ate, Naruto went to work putting away what he had brought home. Tomatoes in the fruit bowl. Cantaloupe in the fridge. Avocados in the bowl with the tomatoes, and the bok choy went in next to the carrots in the vegetable crisper. Canned food went in the pantry; honey and peanut butter were placed in the cupboard. Olive oil went above the stove and milk and OJ belonged on the top shelf of the refrigerator.

Then he made his own food: an extra mayo-y tuna fish wrap, with sun-dried tomato cream cheese spread on the tortilla and lettuce and olives separating the layers and held in the mayo juice.

"Freud, my man, we're going to be rich!" he declared. "You'll have your very own couch to mess up as much as you want and I can get a hammock! And a new mattress!! Oh my god, a new mattress!" He chewed thoughtfully and savored the idea of having his very own hammock to lay in during the day and a brand new, pillow-top mattress with extra puffy pillows and a wonderful, thick down comforter for winter. "Ah, god, Freud, when I get that mattress you are _so _not allowed in the bedroom. A kitty-free zone...mmm..." His wrap was gone.

The phone suddenly trilled loudly.

---

"Naruto! My man, my man, what's up?"

"Only the sky and the birds, Mona. What's doing?"

"Your mom!"

A dead-pan-glare-ish silence.

"Okay, okay, that was lame. I admit it. When can you come over?"

"Not till later. Freud killed my couch again. I'm getting sick of this. I mean it. This is the last time I go to get it reupholstered. After this, I just don't care anymore."

"But maybe Siggy'll choke on couch fuzz, Naruto! What about poor Siggy?"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I know. But I just can't _take_ this anymore! I actually tried to throw him out once and the thing somehow figured out how to get back inside, so it'd be no use abandoning him. He's like a freaking dog."

"Smart cat. I wish Tina was that smart. Once she got lost going out to pee and I had to go find her. She was in the bushes yowling her little lungs off."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I know. She's not so dumb now, though. Please imagine me smirking right now." Naruto did as he was told.

"Whenever I picture you smirking, you have a mustache and a top hat for some reason."

"A mustache?" The raised eyebrow was evident in her question. "A _twisty_ mustache. The hairs are all pointed on either side like a toothpick 'stache."

"Weird."

"I know."

"See you?"

"Umhumm..."

"Come out in the hallway at eight. Goolrick's is having a Fall pie sale and I want apple."

"Kay, I'll be there. And Mona?" He grinned evilly.

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget to close your windows this time." He could just picture her wincing before she answered.

"Ahhh, like I would do that again. Later Sunshine!"

-click-

-beebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeeeeeeee-

---

Later, Naruto and Mona both were stuffed and the clock read well past midnight, Naruto left. As he unlocked the door he and Mona said their goodbyes, making promises to see each other soon. It wasn't everyday they could sit and talk like that.

The interior of his apartment was cold. The heat wasn't on, and early fall winds were blowing outside. Naruto's eyelids were heavy with sleep, and he walked sluggishly over to the door of his bedroom, only to notice the blinking red light on the phone. Someone had left a message.

Assuming that it was probably just a message from his day-job or Mona, or maybe even the publisher, he picked up the phone and pressed the message retrieve button. Immediately, the detached female voice said, _You have– one– new message._ _To play the message, press one now. _He pressed one. _Message one._ Immediately the voice of Sasuke played.

"Hey Naruto. Listen, I--" The sound of air escaping, like a large breath held in was heard. "I want to talk to you some more. After yesterday, and this morning, I just feel like it's been so long– much longer than four years– since we've seen each other." He sounded distracted and nervous and worried. He sounded...weak. "Yeah. Well, just wanted to call to let you know. And my number! Agh, my number. I never gave you mine. It's--" he read off the number and told him one last time to call him back as soon as possible. By the end of the message, he sounded desperate, as if he didn't believe Naruto would call back. It was very perplexing. "Yeah. Well, gotta go! Bye." And then a click as it ended.

_Press one to save this message. Press two to repeat this message. Press three to delete this message._ Naruto pressed one. He glanced at the tiny screen to see when Sasuke'd called and was surprised to see how recent it was. As little as and hour had passed since the message had been left. How very curious.

Naruto debated calling back right then. He really did. But he was very tired, and his bed might as well have been calling to him from his bedroom. He made a note to call in the morning and wandered to his room, undressing all the while. By the time he got to the edge of his bed, he was down to just his undershorts. He quickly shucked them off and replaced them with some pajama pants and slid into the covers, clicking off the lamp. It was now dark, and peacefully silent. He fell asleep quickly.

---

He awoke in the middle of the night. He felt hot and tired, more tired than when he had fallen on the bed. His feet were tangled up in sheets and his head was hanging off the bed. His mind reeled with thoughts of the dream– the nightmare, to be exact– from which he had woken. He had been in a store– he wasn't sure exactly which store. There had been someone, a figure, leaning on a wall and looking annoyed with everything. Annoyed was really the only way he could put it: His face was twisted into a scowl that stayed the whole time Naruto watched him. But what irritated him was a mystery. There was no one with him; he was alone with no company. Nobody was talking to him, so there was no way it was another person he was annoyed at.

In his dream, Naruto kept on with his cart, but every time he came to the end of an aisle, there the figure was again. Truthfully, Naruto couldn't tell what the person's face had looked like. It was a man, he knew that, and a rather tall man. But no distinctive features were there to be remembered now that Naruto was awake.

He kept trying to bring back what he could. He groped for his notebook on the bedside table and the pen that was in the cover. Turning on the light at the same time as he opened his notebook, Naruto began to scribble what he could remember while it was still there, and prayed that his handwriting would be decipherable in the morning. He wrote about how the man had been standing, and then leaning, and even pacing once, but all in the same general area. It was strange, because Naruto could remember going in different aisles; and yet, at the end of each one, no matter which end, there was the man.

Finally, he had gone to check-out. Something told him that he had everything he needed. He needed only two big brown paper bags for all the things he bought, and was ready to leave. All the people he passed had no faces. Nobody. The light from his view was skewed and everything seemed warped, but some driving force told him to keep walking. He clutched his bags and took several steps towards the door, forcing himself to not make eye contact with the man, who was now right by the entrance. He walked swiftly past, turning down the sidewalk in the direction of home. And he heard footsteps behind him.

Naruto's pen paused for a minute, thinking just how cliche the rest of his dream was, starting with the footsteps behind him in the dark. But nonetheless, it was his dream and he wanted to write it down. Maybe he could use it later.

In the dream, he began to walk faster, thinking that someone was following him. He knew, consciously, that he was dreaming, but he had a great fear since that man had been in his dream. It was normal for him to have dreams of being in a shopping center, but _not _normal for people to be there with him. The footsteps moved faster, matching his pace. He moved his legs ever faster, almost to a point of running. The steps behind him first sped up to match his, but then, just as quickly as the steps had started, they abruptly stopped. Naruto was spooked. He stood stock still, trying to discern any other noises from that of the stranger's footsteps. He was almost one-hundred percent sure that it was the man he had seen in the store, and that alone freaked him out. The fact that he knew it was that being. The fact that it was night and he was running, holding groceries.

The fact that he was now by the entrance of a park with no lights.

He stood still for many minutes; he didn't dare look at his watch for fear of inspiring the unknown follower to continue the chase. When he heard nothing in the long span of time he stood there, he turned slowly and opened his eyes (he hadn't even known they were closed until this point) and took a step forward.

Nothing happened. He took another step, and, again, nothing happened. The wind blew his hair and ruffled the trees in the nearby area . His arms, at this point, were becoming sore from clutching the two heavy bags so close for so long. He started to stride once again in the direction of home, but then the creature was in front of him.

It had dark hair and dark clothes and an air around it that seemed to shroud the small moon in the sky. It had a dark light emanating from it that drew in the eye and made Naruto, like many others before him, stop in amazement and, when he realized what he was looking upon, fear. He tried to look for a way to run, tried to find a way to escape the attack he knew was coming, but he found that there was no way to move his legs; they could not be persuaded.

At this point in the story, Naruto lifted his pen up once again and flexed his fingers. He had been writing for much longer than a half-hour and his hand was sore. The rest of what had happened was terrifying, and he knew that in order to go back to sleep he'd have to put it down. But it was scary. His hand hurt so it was no longer just a mental reluctance to write but also a physical one. His fingers were molded to the shape of his pen. There was a dent in his finger where the writing utensil had pressed so hard while he wrote. He decided to go on after thinking of how exactly he would word it. But instead, his hand decided for him and wrote in curly, haphazard letters, **Will Finish In Morning**, underlining it twice and writing out the simplest way to phrase it before closing the notebook: "_Stared the monstrosity. Was attacked+ teeth sunk into neck. Could feel blood pounding in head, feel as it escaped me. Was being eaten+ knew it. It was a vampire. Last thing seen was apple rolling to gutter_."

He decided to write the rest in the morning.

Sleep was hard to come by for the rest of the night, for every time he turned on his side to get a better position, the blinking red light of his phone caught his eye and made him think of the message left by Sasuke. It was bothering him. His dream was bothering him and his morning was bothering him.

Eventually, he pulled the covers tight around his face and shut his eyes to fend off the darkness. He didn't remember sleeping at all, but the next time he opened his eyes, the sky was a light gray and the birds were chirping.

He walked to the phone and began his day.

File continued in **1.3 (Serendipity)**

**Notes:** Naruto lives a couple hours away from where Sasuke is, so by the time he got to his city/town/suburb it was around 9. Then he had to catch a ride home (another hour) and get ready to go. Being as tired as he was, Naruto's brain was a lil' messed up, which is why he ended up being late.

Also, please don't rag on my OCs, Mona _or_ Cairo. Cairo plays a special importance, but more 'cos I'm tired of seeing Kiba play this roll than anything else...er, you'll get what I'm saying when we get there. Mona's mostly there for atmosphere. -sweatdrop- She plays no big role. Mostly, I'm trying to figure out how to write her for my REAL story, the non fanfiction one.

Well! That really took me a while. I'm sorry that whoever was waiting for this had to wait so long...-look away- I know that this isn't all that great, so I'd appreciate any criticism.

Hell, if you just want to review to say what you ate for breakfast, I'd be glad.

I'm looking for a beta. Sign-up sheet is on that button down there...uh, yeah, just go press that. Thank you!! Hyde


	3. Serendipity

Beginning Note: Hello.

I disclaim: -frothing at mouth- MINE!! ALL MINE!!!

But now, my lovelies, I present to you:

**1.3 (Serendipity)**

Serendipity: the faculty of (action of) finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for (in other words, found by accident).

Naruto picked up the phone. It was light, cordless, and silver. And right now, it was his biggest enemy. Why, you ask? Because it was mocking him. He hadn't written down the number Sasuke'd left last night, and he kept hitting the end button right before he could hear the number. And then when he got to the number he was so distracted he couldn't concentrate. And then Sasuke seemed to be slurring the numbers together. In the end, he ended up with three or four possibilities as for which was Sasuke's number.

He dialed the first. It wasn't in service. Same with the second one. The third was the number of a take-out Vietnamese place. He was finally down to the last number and scared to dial. If this wasn't right, he'd have to go through Button Hell again. It rang ten times, during which Naruto debated hanging up. And then, finally, he heard a click and Sasuke's voice.

"Hello? Hello?" said the voice. "Who's there?"

Naruto started to answer. "Sasuke this is–" but he was cut off by what was apparently the rest of the message. "I don't know who you are right now, obviously, since I haven't picked up the phone, so leave your message after the beep."

He waited for the beep and left a short message asking for Sasuke to call him on his cell, and then left the number. He'd just have to take his phone with him, even if having it on wasn't allowed at his job.

Breakfast and kitty-food, and Naruto was gone. He didn't have to run far, just a few blocks. The building was, at _most_, a mile away, but even that wasn't too far for him. His messenger bag slapped against his leg as he ran. The sun wasn't quite up yet, and the air was saturated with that special brand of Fall dew that likes to cling to bark and grass. He ran, trying to clear his head of that dream– that nightmare. It was terrifying, and he didn't want to think about it, but it got into his thoughts and stayed there.

He was trying to analyze it most of the morning. Mona had a couple books on psychology in her shelves, including several exclusively about dream interpretation. Biting... Being bitten. One of the most prominent meaning of bites was aggression, but Naruto didn't know what sort of aggression, or if it was coming from him or some other source.

Some of his colleagues asked him he was feeling okay. One, a talkative woman with long blonde hair, said he had a weird look on his face.

"Naruto. Are you okay? You look like half your face's been squished with some other expression. Like, on one side, you look scared to death of something, and on the other you look all happy about whatever. And then some other half or side or something looks like you're thinking really hard."

"Ino! Ino Ino Ino! Yeah, I know!" Naruto jumped up from the employees' bench where they could take breaks. "I ran into a friend from high school I haven't seen since graduation, but I can't get a hold of him anymore. It really sucks."

"What about that happy part?" She smiled, fiddling with her necklace all the while. "You looked like you wanted to burst into song."

"Herrrrmmm...yeah, I might get published!"

"WHAT?!" She yelled, disrupting several diners nearby. "That's awesome!! _Published_?! That's _really _awesome!! Which book?"

Naruto started jumping around a little. Ino's enthusiasm was always infectious. "The cookbook! And maybe the pop-up!"

"Oh my god! It's about _time_! You're so awesome, gawd, I wish I was like you." She dropped her tray and grabbed Naruto's hands and started swinging the both of them in a circle, singing, "You're gonna get published! You're gonna get published!" Naruto grinned and almost started to sing along, but one of the other waiters tapped Ino on the shoulder. She stopped spinning and let go of Naruto's hands.

"People are staring." It was Gaara, the short, redheaded guy that was much stronger than he might've looked with his small frame and willowy limbs. "Ino, your break's up in five minutes. Uzumaki, get back to work. Table seven is ready." Gaara strode away to the depths of the kitchen to retrieve his own set of dishes.

"Right!" he saluted Gaara with a short flick of his wrist and turned to Ino. "I know how gosh-darned awesome I am, but even us super-beings have to make money." He grinned and dashed off to the awaiting group of diners.

---

Work went by with no problems. He made countless hours-worth of small talk and a large sum in tips. He felt accomplished. His clothing smelled like food, something that, after hours of smelling the scent, didn't have the desired effect. Naruto felt more ill than hungry after being around food so much; watching people eat didn't really increase your appetite, and cleaning the remnants of a double-cheese-hold-the-butter-add-some-basil bowl of pasta made food all the less desirable.

No distractions came. Nobody complained about him, no bandit held a gun to his head, not a single child spilled liquid on the carpet, and not once, not a single time, did his phone ring and throw him off balance. And that was the bad part: no calls. His phone was on, even if it wasn't supposed to be, and he was expecting at least one call, so why weren't there any messages? Mona, most unusual, hadn't called at all. He'd been hoping for a call from Sasuke, too, but _he_ hadn't picked up the phone to call Naruto either. Not a single person had tried to call him or leave a message.

This annoyed him.

He called Sasuke again, but got the answering machine. He left a second message saying that he just got off work and was going home, so if he got the message by five to call his cell (he repeated the number), but if he got it _after _five to call his home number (read that one out, too). Then, on a slightly lower note, he asked if he was feeling okay, 'cos he didn't look all that well when he'd seen him. He said that if there was anything Sasuke needed to talk about, Naruto'd be glad to listen. He knew what it was like to go through hard times and how much having one confidant could make a difference.

"At any rate, Sasuke, call me back when you get this. It's been for_ever_ since we've really been able to talk. Just _call_!"

He pressed end. He was in front of his door.

---

Naruto passed the time until his night shift by going into the tiny room that would normally be used as a guest room (but, seeing as Naruto never had guests...) but which was his art room. There were several accordion folders with different kinds of clippings and photos in them, and Naruto sifted through them as he though about what to write that day. He felt in the mood for poetry. Something short with no punctuation, just a continuation of syllables. Something to do with water.

He shifted and arranged and moved and prodded the different photos until he had a decent arrangement. There was a wide range of colors; orange and blues mixed interchangeably. He was trying to make it look like fire underwater, but he wasn't quite satisfied. The better part of an hour went by, and Naruto was so immersed in his project that he didn't notice when Freud snuck into the room. But when the cat jumped on the table, scattering several groups of pictures, boy, did Naruto notice _then_. He shooed the cat away and was picking up when the phone rang.

He sprinted over and looked at the screen. It said unknown, but Naruto recognized the number. He picked it up.

"Heeeeyllo." He drew out the words, trying to sound casual.

"Great, I caught you. Just got your message."

"That was fast."

"I know. Sorry I didn't call earlier; I was busy." Naruto didn't ask what he was 'busy' with because he didn't feel like he was on as close terms as they used to be– yet.

"All right...So, what's up?"

"Not much. Life's been pretty tough lately. There's some weird murder mystery going on 'round here."

"'Not much?!' That's crazy! What, are you _used _to seeing bodies in gutters?" It was meant to be a joke, but something about the slight pause before Sasuke's answer set Naruto off a little.

"Something like that. Listen, I won't lie to you: usually, this city's pretty gruesome. The building I'm in is in a pretty crappy part of town. If I had more money, I'd move out in a heartbeat."

"I thought your family was loaded." There was a question hidden in that statement. Naruto was puzzled. Uchihas, from what Naruto could remember of Sasuke's lifestyle in high school, seemed to be notoriously rich.

"Yeah, well, some bastard pulled the old identity theft shenanigan on me. I don't have a lot of funds right now."

"That why you sound so _sickly_?" See, the old pattern was slipping in again– that ease with which, even if it was a hard topic to talk about normally, would infiltrate the words and make everything seem like nothing was a big deal.

"Mm-nn. Kinda-sorta."

"So talk."

"Do I really have to spill my heart out over the phone to someone I haven't seen in years? That doesn't really seem a fair way to do things."

"Yeah."

"You said that I could come down any time, right?"

"Yeah."

"This weekend is the absolute _best_ time for me to get out of town."

"What? What's going on you need to escape from?"

"Wacky things."

"Like what?"

"Things."

"Things? _Things_'ve got you down?"

Sasuke sounded uncomfortable. "Yes."

"What sort of things?"

"Weeellll..." Sasuke drew out the word. "For one thing, I already told you about how someone found a body in my building, didn't I? For a_nother_ thing, the weather's crappy. For yet _another_ thing, I'm feeling extremely confused about lots of stuff and I don't like to talk on the phone."

"Why? Why don't you talk on the phone, I mean."

Sasuke laughed a little. It came across as static to Naruto, but he could tell it was laughter. "It's especially with people like you, Naruto. I can't see the way your face moves when we talk on the phone. When you're sarcastic– at least, it was like this in high school– you sound like you're serious. So it's hard to tell if you're joking. Plus, most people make hand gestures while they talk, and it's impossible to tell if a person's even moving when they're on the phone."

"Oh."

"Yeah." More laughter.

"So come down here this weekend. I command you! Ride the train."

"Where do you even live, anyway?"

Naruto told him.

"Crap! That's, like, four hours away from here! What time did you even...why were you even in my city if it's that far away?!"

"Bookstore there. Special order from the place I work at. That's where we met, remember? I don't think I even got the book..."

Christ, man! When can I get down there?"

Naruto smiled. "You sure you're up to it?"

Sasuke sounded confused. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"You looked sick when I saw you."

"Oh. That." He didn't sound happy. He sounded more like a complete stranger had walked up to him and said he had a booger in his nose.

"Yeah, that. You didn't seem too healthy."

"I'm fine now."

"Okay."

There was an awkward silence.

"So."

"So."

"Saturday?"

"Yep. I'll be on the 5th platform, Blue line. Take the seven o'clock Yellow and switch at Middlestrong Station to Blue. That way you'll get here around eleven and we can just get lunch and then decide to do whatever."

"All right. See you then."

"Mm-hm."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Both waited for the other to hang up.

"_Bye_."

"Okay. _Bye_."

Sasuke hung up before Naruto.

-click-

-beebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebeeeeeeeeeee-

---

The rest of the day passed awkwardly. When you know someone is gonna be seeing your home, you suddenly become aware of what it looks like, and smells like, and how warm it is and stuff like that. How many dirty dishes are lying around? Do you need to vacuum? Do laundry? Wait! Is there enough food in the fridge? Oh no! Cat hair in the drain! What if they inspect your pipes while you sleep?!

When it was time for work, Naruto dressed in work-friendly clothes and left the house, making sure to leave the heat on low so that it wouldn't become completely freezing while he was gone. He'd picked up and locked the studio door so that Freud couldn't get into it, collected a monster stack of dishes from the whole of his apartment, and managed to vacuum the larger portion of his home.

---

His second job was at a small bookstore just far enough away that he had to ride the bus. It was starting to get windy when he stepped off the bus and into the warmth of the Title Page. A small bell rang when he opened the door, and a warm gust of air blew into his face.

"Shiiiiika, I'm here!" he announced, startling the few customers inside. He walked to the back room, swinging his bag off his shoulder and slipping off his coat. He pulled on his apron-like workers' garb, tying it around his waist as the bell rang again, announcing another customer. He looked at the small mirror on the wall. "Daaah, my hair's getting long again..." he pulled his hair out of the high neck of his sweater. It was the longest it'd ever been as of yet, long enough to be pulled into a small pony tail if Naruto really wanted to. But he didn't, so he just signed the sheet to mark his In time.

Once out of the back room, Naruto surveyed the already browsing customers. Shikamaru, the owner of the independent book store, was helping a woman in the religion/occult section. Shikamaru saw him and waved him over.

"Naruto, can you help this woman? She's looking for Wicca...I don't know where that'd be."

Naruto smiled and made his way to the woman while Shikamaru went off to the cash register to help someone.

"So, what'cha looking for? Any specific titles?"

"Mm-hmm. Yes. 'Living Wicca,' by..._Hey!!_ It's you again!"

Naruto looked at the woman's face. She had blonde hair with soft curls, minimal makeup, and was wearing a long skirt with a tank top, something pretty unusual for this time of year...Had he ever seen her before? He didn't think so, but it was always possible that...oh, wait.

"Cairo! Is that you? I just saw you though!"

"Yeah, I know!"

"Why are you here?" Naruto looked around. "Oh. Right. Bookstore. Hehe."

"It's great to see you. We had such a good time today." She pulled a piece of hair behind an ear. "I already spoke to my supervisor, by the way. The deal's pretty much set in stone. And you deserve this! I mean really, the majority of the stuff in that book is just...wow! Are you going to put it up for sale here?"

"I don't honestly know." He leaned forward. He was going to be in trouble if he didn't get back on task. "'Ey, Cairo, it's great to talk to you, but I'm at work. Not supposed to talk to the customers, you know. At least, not when there's more than one. Gimme your number and we'll talk later."

Cairo didn't miss a beat. "Nah, I think we'll meet again soon. Trust me, I'm good at predicting this sort of thing. Oh! Here's my book!" She went to the register and paid. Naruto watched as she pulled out cash and left promptly.

"Weird. It looked like she _knew_ where her book was..." He shook his head. "And what's up with the whole, "_We'll meet again soon, ooo-ooo-ooh_," thing? Psh."

---

Work ended at eleven-thirty, when the Title Page closed. Shikamaru was leaning against the wall on his stool at the counter, his eyelids drifting up and down, up and down. The track lighting was set to low, and shadows hung leisurely from corners and protruding objects. The ceiling fan in the back room slowly circulated the warm air as Naruto wiped the Sandman's lull out of his eyes and tugged on his jacket sleeves to get them to cover his hands.

"Shika." Naruto tapped on Shikamaru's shoulder, careful not to push too hard for fear that he'd push his boss of his chair; it'd happened before. "Hey, _Shika._" He flicked Shikamaru's forehead, and the man swatted at him half-heartedly with a single, slow hand. "Dude, wake up. I'm leaving. Don't fall asleep yet." Shikamaru lived in the tiny apartment above the store. "You need to lock up before you can sleep."

He waited a minute.

"Are you even listening to me?"

That earned him a grunt-ish mumble. It seemed that he didn't want to open his mouth all the way to give Naruto a decent answer. However, if you listened to the suggested syllables closely enough–_really, really_ closely– you might hear _something_ along the lines of "Go away dumbass I'm tired I own the building I don't care if someone breaks in it's too much trouble to get up right now lock up the damn store yourself."

Or something.

So Naruto grabbed the keys and locked the outer lock, tossed the keys in through the mail slot, and went on his way. If "Mr. Nara," as the rent collectors called him, was robbed in his sleep, it was his _own_ fault.

---

The walk to the bus stop was short, but in some ways long. The sidewalk seemed to be an endless pattern of sections of light between light poles. Every third lamppost, a green-painted, cast-iron trash can with an outward-curving rim could be found, seemingly never with any garbage in it. There was no-one at the bus stop besides Naruto, so he pulled out his headphones from his bag and put them on his head. Not only did they protect him from wind, they provided a comforting soundtrack to his life.

Debussy and Dylan, however strongly they contrasted, were perfect for the way the night flashed by through the wide bus windows.

---

Notes: The day in this chapter is Wednesday, unless there are mentions of weekdays in there I forgot about...AND: if you don't know who Claude Debussy or Bob Dylan are, I STRONGLY suggest you check them out. Like, cast-iron strongly. Bah, what is it with me and cast-iron things?? AND: anybody notice anything about Sasuke? _Anybody_? AND: does anybody find Artsy!Naruto to be annoying? I base him on myself and my mother, which, if you think about it, is sort of strange. To be basing a male character on two women, I mean. Actually, never mind. Personalities can be androgynous. AND: _does anybody read these end notes?!_

**If you find something ****serendipitous**** about/in this chapter, tell me :9 **

Plus: Any requests? Want me to sing? Quote mathematical theorem? Any poem/song/book/person/poster/conversation you'd like me to quote? I love this sort of thing, so just slip me a mention if you've got anything!

PS: will go back to fix any errors I notice in the next week or two. Just wanted to get this up, kay?_ Hasta luego!_


	4. Medianoches

Beginning Note: Does anybody have a particular way they want a character portrayed here? I love suggestions. I might even use them! (Hear that biting sarcasm.) No, truthfully, I might, if I like it enough. Depends on how well it fits in. Completely random stuff like saying that Neji should be a dragon tamer will not be considered for even a second, so think a minute before writing!

I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really want to say how sorry I am for making all of you who may have been waiting for this to, well..._wait _so gosh darn long. I really am sorry. To make up for it, Chapter Five should be posted sometime around Monday , December 17th, 2007 between the hours of 1 AM and 11PM. I haven't been _completely _lazy...

I disclaim: -holding voodoo doll- That's right, Masashi, sign the contract...Give Hyde the rights...

Thank you for 9 reviews, 7 favorites, 12 alerts, and 820 hits! Every bit is appreciated!

But now, my lovelies, I present to you:

**1.4 (Medianoches) **

"**I am staring at my clock.**

"**It flashes. It says 3:52.**

"**3:52.**

"**3:52.**

"**That is no time to be awake. It is the rawest hour of the earthly day. There is no one to help you at 3:52. Many people don't **_**exist **_**at 3:52." –**_**Thirsty**_**, by M.T. Anderson. **

**---**

Gasping for air, he awoke. The light was dark and the thin sheets seemed to be miles thick. There were no traces of the invisible mist that was choking him in his sleep.

Naruto sat up slowly, trying his hardest to keep his eyes from springing open. He tried taking a few deep breaths, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and yanked the snaps on his shirt open to get more oxygen to his heaving chest.He couldn't breathe. He couldn't get any air in his lungs. It was awful.

He lunged out of bed to the overhead light, not even looking to make sure the floor was clear. He stumbled, tripped, and hit the wall, then scrambled up to flick on the light switch. There was something there, he _knew_ it. There _was_. His eyes, in their crazed vibrations, sped around the room. Empty bed, empty walls,not a person nor a monster in sight.

Freud was sleeping on a chair, every last ash-gray hair licked neatly into place. Naruto watched the small rises and falls of the cat's body with each breath. They seemed so short. So temporary. Slowly, slowly, Naruto's breathing went back to normal, but he still felt as if there were something sitting on his breastbone keeping him from taking air in properly.

He moved his surprisingly heavy feet over to the chair on which Freud slept. Naruto knelt down on the wooden floor next to the cat and held the position for some minutes, just watching his pet sleep.

"You are _so _lucky, Freud. So, so lucky cats can't dream. Lucky that cats can't have nightmares."

He picked up his journal and began to write down what he could remember. Most of what he could recall at all was fear-- _immense_fear-- and a sense of helplessness. These two feelings, he reasoned must have been so strong in his sleep that they carried over into his waking hours.

When he ran out of words, he moved on to pictures. He flipped the lights on in the living room on his way to the office just to feel like he was safe. The door to his office was open just a crack, something not exactly normal. On a _normal_ day, Naruto would've closed it. Maybe he'd just been busy cleaning, he told himself. So busy he forgot to close the door.

Once inside, Naruto closed the door and turned on the lamp. His folders were all laid out in color-order– the folders themselves, not their contents. He pushed several of them aside, but kept a few of them close at hand. The pictures inside spilled out when Naruto opened up the folders, and Naruto set to work. He grabbed different colored papers, paints, glues, magazines, cutting knives, and all sorts of other sealants, binders, and colorful things. Then he set to work, and it was as if he was possessed. The table in front of him was soon covered in bits and scraps of paper. There were photos torn to pieces all over the table. Naruto'd gotten some acrylic paint (the kind that _doesn't_wash out) on his shirt. But in the end, he had something amazing. Something he didn't really want to look at, because somehow it made him sick.

There were so many colors, so many images pushed together and layered. From one angle one story could be told; from another a different tale was apparent. There were colors: green and black and red and blue; there was texture: lines and circles and thickly-spread paint half-hid pictures or bits of newsprint. There was horror and happiness, felicity and fear. It was his nightmare and his fantasy.

It was awful and beautiful simultaneously.

Naruto gaped.

And then he pushed the stiff paper away from him to dry– because however much it made him sick, it was still something he made and which had value– and let his head fall to the table.

There were pieces of paper floating around him, stirred up by the wind generated by his head when it hit the table. The gust of air had blown many of the larger pieces out of the way, but smaller scraps were still there to be moved when the hard breaths similar to someone trying not to cry blew out of Naruto's nose. He felt physically ill, because of what the aggregation had reminded him of– of his dreams. They were always scary, always awful, and always confusing. He rubbed his face with his hands, scratching at the junction between his collarbone and his neck– the place where he'd had those bruises. It itched.

While scratching, he accidentally pressed too hard on the bruise itself. However, something very abnormal happened: he didn't feel just a dull pain, like other bruises usually causedInstead, his vision swam for just a second.

"Woah." Naruto stood up, leaning on one hand on the table. "What just..." He pressed the spot again. Black spots danced in the corners of his vision. "That's weird." He walked down the hall to the bathroom. The mirror reflected a ragged-looking man with tired eyes, looking very curious indeed about his image. Naruto leaned towards the mirror, his head angled up so he could see his neck, so close his breath fogged up a small spot with every breath. His fingers rested lightly on the brownish-green bruise.

He pushed on the bruise and his knees turned to liquid; his vision went dark for a second, and he toppled to the floor.

He took a moment to get his bearings back. This is where I started two days ago, he thought. This is where life changed. The floor between the sink and the toilet. The tiles were cold and hard, and Naruto had a headache. He didn't remember hitting his head, but he was sure there would be a lump when he checked. He slowly closed his eyes, feeling his breaths. For the moment, everything was surreal, as is life in the middle of the night.

He didn't know how long he was there, though he was sure it was longer than the planned single moment. There was no clock in the bathroom, for there was never a need to know the time when in the shower. But he measured time in the air that left his lungs and came back again, steady breath after steady breath. Several times he contemplated standing up and going back to bed, but he'd been on the cold tiles for so long that they had turned warm beneath his skin. He was becoming comfortable– too comfortable: every now and then, he noticed his eyelids flicking open again as if fending off sleep.

Time passed slowly. Sleep tried to reclaim him, but a small part of him– the prideful part– refused to fall asleep on the floor. However, he didn't have that strong an urge to get up, either. In the end it was Freud who saved him, wandering into the bathroom and batting at his nose. The cat meowed and butted him with its head. Naruto slowly sat up; then, gripping the edge of the tub for support, he hoisted himself to his feet.

As he rose, his face appeared once again in the mirror. His eyes were drooping and his head was hanging from his shoulders. He barely recognized himself. He lifted his head up, exposing his neck. Sure enough, there were the bruises. The largest of the two was a deep brownish blue, still painful. He prodded gently at it; nothing much happened except for the dull, slightly itchy pain that rose up beneath his fingers. Nothing like the blindness that had claimed him before.

Naruto was...tired. He dragged his legs down the hall once again to the open door of his bedroom, all the while leaning on the wall for support. His eyes were closing of their own accord. The bed seemed so far away, the windows with their lamp glare so menacing.

Carefully, he dragged the heavy blankets back onto the bed into their places. He fluffed the pillows, adjusted the sheets, and moved the various pens that had strayed into the bed out of the way. He reached over, clicked off the lights, and closed his eyes.

---

Terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. The word kept repeating itself in his head as he ran. There were roots beneath his feet: he kept stumbling on them. There were thick pricking vines and bushes clawing at his arms and legs: he was bleeding in so many places, shallow cuts, small cuts, but so many.

A voice, horrible in its lilting baritones, sang out through the darkness in which he ran. Mud sloshed under his bare feet while the words spoke loudly, clearly:

"**I hear your beating heart, your racing thoughts, the fear coursing through your veins. I smell the terror coming from your very pores: the tears on your face show all the signs of agony.**" Naruto reached up to touch his face. Something sticky came off his hand; he could only guess what it was. As he drew in a sharp breath when a hooked spike tore through his skin, lines of salt on his face cracked.

"**Your life is open to me; there is nowhere to run. Your feet may move, but the endless track goes naught but in place**." He sped up his pace. The roots beneath the thick mud caught his feet, grabbed them, dragged him down. His knees, and then his hands, and finally the very front of his face hit the mud. He quickly scrambled up, tugging his feet out from under the root. Suddenly, it seemed like the mud was thicker. It was harder to run.

Naruto swiped at his face. The mud on his hands was spread over his forehead, but he managed to get the majority of it away from his eyes. A warm, thick liquid dripped onto the skin just beneath his eye, and Naruto used a single finger to wipe that away, too. There were tears and mud and what he could only assume was blood running down his face in a dirty mask.

"**Words will get you nowhere. Light will show nothing. Sound will only serve to distract. The only real truth is pain. Only pain is real. Life is only pain**." Terrible, terrible, terrible, the chant went on. Terrible horrifying gruesome awful grotesque. He tripped again. The mud was thick like drying cement. He was running through cement! The realization scared him even more. His hands plunged into the hardening floor and he yanked them out, covered in solid muck. He scraped at each hand, trying his best to get rid of it all. And the whole time, his heart beat faster and faster.

"**Pain and torment are the only way to live. Happiness is a false emotion. Comfort is an illusion. Love is fake, hate is real, pain is pleasure, fear is the self coming alive, sleep is merely a way to elude your emotions**," the voice went on and on. His feet wouldn't move! He pulled, tugged at them with all his strength, but they could not be removed from the ground. His hands had crusts on them, cuffs from which a thick chain dangled, leading from the crumbling hard gloves on his hands to oblivion, away into the dark in which Naruto could see and not see. He stood, pulled, fell when he could move forward. As he fell, something, someone, grabbed at the collar of this shirt he did not know he wore.

The voice was suddenly right beside his ear, whispering in harsh tones.

"**Pain and torment are the only way to live. Light shows nothing. Sound gives up no secrets. Pain is truth. Fear is life. Sleep is merely a way to evade your emotions. Sleep is merely a way to run. Sleep will not aid you. Dreams are never real. No tools found in the dark hours will be solid in the light. Sleep is merely an illusion. Sleep is merely a way to run**." Hard, cold hands gripped his shoulders, pushing them as if the figure was trying to fold him up.

Ice-hands forced his arms to his sides, forced him down to the ground.

He felt ice-breath on his neck, in his ear.

"**Do not run**."

Pain. Blood and dirt. Immobility.

"**Do not run**."

Breath falling out of his body, not returning. Lungs crushed in the folded ribcage he now possessed. Head about to burst from the pressure on it.

Shoulders folded in like broken wings to his bloody sides.

"_**Do not run**_."

---

He woke once again feeling like there was a gigantic vice around his body: He couldn't breathe. His arms were sore. He couldn't think. His head was pounding. He couldn't move. His legs felt so _heavy_. He felt his face. No blood, no mud. Only tears.

Light outside the window.

**---**

Friday (lalala, time skip -heart-)

"Ino, I don't know what to do."

It was early Friday morning. Ino, Naruto, Gaara and the other few employees that had arrived already were taking down chairs and getting ready to open. The heat wasn't on yet, so the air was still frightfully cold.

"Don't know what to do about what, Sunshine?" Ino glanced at him. She wasn't at her full excitement levels yet, considering it was still early. Ino was more energetic once the sun was up.

"Sleep– or, more specifically, the _non_-sleep I've been getting." He took another chair down from its upside-down position on the table and put it on the floor.

"_Non_-sleep? What do you _do_ at night?" She got a twisted look on her face. Ino was probably the only one who had any guesses as to which way Naruto was bent. "Er, never mind."

Naruto blushed. "What?! What are you _thinking_? Nothing like _that_. I just can't sleep. I'm too afraid."

"Of what?"

"...Let's just call them inner demons. _One_ inner demon."

"You can't sleep 'cause some umbrella with eyeballs is dancing in your head?" She raised an eyebrow.

Naruto laughed. "What? No. It's a bit more complicated than that. Nightmares. Horrible stuff."

Gaara appeared behind them. "Nightmares?"

Naruto jumped. Gaara had scared him: the sudden appearance had reminded him of his dream two nights ago. "Yes. Nightmares. Vampires. Blood. Pain. Voices."

"So now you hear voices?" Ino stopped taking down chairs.

"No! It's not like that! It's like there's something haunting me in my sleep. Or hunting me. Or both or something! Except that that was the only time I've heard it speak. I mean honestly, I've been having these dreams every single freaking time I close my eyes and doze off, and I think I'm going to go insane!"

"Join the club," he heard Gaara mutter. Then he spoke in a louder voice directly to Naruto. "Listen. I didn't used to sleep much for what seems to be the same reasons. Every time I fell asleep, something horrible would happen to me in my head. I went to see a therapist and he prescribed some pills. Now I sleep fine."

Naruto got uncomfortable whenever pills were mentioned, simply because he didn't like swallowing food or anything whole. The idea of a tablet dissolving in his stomach or some sort of liquid going all around his body creeped him out.

"Um...I don't exactly _like _pills."

Gaara shrugged. "Whatever. They worked for me. I'm a regular functioning adult now that I get my eight hours every night." He went back to taking down chairs, leaving Naruto and Ino alone on their side of the restaurant.

Ino sat on a table, her feet on a chair. She leaned on her hands and looked pointedly at Naruto.

"So. What're you going to do?"

Naruto let out a heaving sigh.

"Take up drinking, I suppose."

---

Business was slow at the Title Page that evening. Naruto had arrived early after stopping in quickly at his house to feed Freud simply because he hadn't had a chance yet to call anybody to re-upholster the couch and then rushed off to the back corners of the employee quarters, which basically belonged to him and some other mysterious person that Naruto'd never met. He/she wasn't there when Naruto got there two hours early that Friday, either. When asked, Shikamaru simply said that Naruto's co-worker was only a part-timer who worker a mere twenty-eight hours a week as opposed to the raging forty-two Naruto worked.

"That's so lame. I'm the only major employee?"

"I get paid, too."

Naruto leaned over the counter, gesturing wildly with his hand. "Yeah, but you _own_ the place. Of _course_ you're gonna get money. I get, like, fifteen dollars an hour. That's seventy-five dollars a day, four-hundred and fifty dollars a week, nine-hundred a pay period. After rent, I have about half of one pay period's cash left. I pay rent once a month and have two pay periods in that month. I usually deposit around a quarter to a half of the second pay period into my bank account, because, as part of the starving artist stereotype, I might at any minute undergo some life-threatening danger and need cash to fall back on."

"You think too much about this."

"No, I don't. Anyways, all in all, I have about half the pay I'd get if I didn't spend a dime. About two hundred of the remaining thousand for that month is spent on groceries, another hundred-fifty on art materials, another hundred on essentials like toothpaste and shampoo and clothing, another hundred-fifty on electricity and plumbing, fifty a month for music, and maybe fifty a month on transportation, and _that's_ only because I use _public_ transport. That means that after all reductions, I have about three-hundred dollars left for other things. That gets used on books and library fines and cat food and notebooks and magazines and lightbulbs and a million other little things I buy on a whim. That is why I deposit half of one paycheck. And that is why I'm–"

"No."

"No what?"

"I know what you're going to say. And despite how heart-breaking your story may sound, as much as you might sound like the strapped-for-cash guy on the street corner, I'm not raising your pay. You sound like you're doing just fine with what you've got: savings, a lot from what it sounds like."

"But–"

"NO."

"Not even an extra dollar an hour? An extra five dollars a day?"

"That's thirty dollars a week and sixty a pay period. Seventy dollars I could use on renovations and bills."

"Ugh. I go and do math in my head and think and think and think of how to present this to you and none of it's appreciated!" He threw his arms up in exasperation. "Why do I even bother?"

"No idea, Naruto."

"It was a rhetorical question, Shika."

"I know."

"Gah, what am I going to do with you?"

---

It had started raining by the time Naruto left the store. Shikamaru, for once, had been conscious enough to lock up, so Naruto had no extra work. He didn't have an umbrella though, so he sprinted to the cover of the bus terminal.

Unfortunately, wind can be a bitch when it feels like it. Naruto was pelted with raindrops that appeared to attack him in large groups and which were spurred on by the howling wind.

"Stop encouraging them, you stupid air waves," Naruto ranted at the sky. "It's not like they're doing me any good. I don't even have window boxes!" He pulled his jacket tight. The wind was whipping at his nose and ears, which were slowly going numb. Occasionally, Naruto would reach up, rub his nose vigorously to get some feeling back in it, and then let his hands retreat back into his pockets. A few minutes later he would repeat the process, going for his ears.

His hair was soaked by the time the bus arrived, and he garnered a few sympathetic looks from fellow passengers with his soggy head.

His reflection in the dark glass surprised him. I look like a freaking sheepdog, he thought bitterly. No wonder people were shooting me those glances. You can't even tell if I have eyes!

He almost fell asleep on the bus, but his hair kept sticking to his face and getting up his nose when he started to snore. The effect was most disgruntling.

It was nearing midnight when he reached home, and only then did he get the ingenious idea to ask Sasuke to pick up the book he'd never gotten for him and bring it the following day. It was late, he supposed, but hadn't Sasuke called him pretty late at night before? The phone rang exactly three times before the disconcerting answering machine message played. Naruto left a short message with his request, promising to reimburse him, and then dragged his sorry self off to bed. However, sleep was very hard to come by. Naruto was afraid to close his eyes, so he opened a book instead.

He failed, though, in his endeavors to elude sleep. His eyes refused to keep open, and Naruto debated several times whether or not pinning them open with clothes pins was a good idea. By two o'clock he was forced to close the book and turn off the light.

The cycle began again.

File continued in** 1.5 (Chat Noir)**

---

Notes:

That dream with all the bolded parts of speech is part of a true dream I have had before, and I woke up almost not breathing from it I was so terrified. I've been having a...um, well, a hard time sleeping lately, so, as you can see, I go and write when my eyes should be closed. AND: "Medianoches" means "midnight" in Spanish. AND: The poem in chapters one and two is Der Schwan– The Swan– by the famous German author Rainer Maria Rilke. (Just don't wanna get sued, you see.) AND: forty-two hours really isn't that much...seven hours a day-- less than the average eight-hour day. And no over-time. AND: the "umbrella with eyeballs" comment made by Ino refers to the legend that after either 100 or 1000 years (I forget which) an object gains it's own soul or becomes haunted or something... AND: _Am I the only one who thinks this focuses too much on sleep??_

Plus: As stated at the beginning, I'm accepting character profiles (of the Naruto cast) that may or may not appear! Give me your crazy, your elderly, and I will build a nation! Er, that's not how it goes, but...


	5. Chat Noir

Beginning Note: So...See any good movies lately?

Oh! Two things: ONE: **Guess my age.** Winner gets a oneshot of my choice unless your suggestion makes sense and seems possible. Seriously. I'm susceptible to persuasion. TWO: **Character profiles still being accepted**.

**So, ****Kreyana****, still up to beta'ing?**

I disclaim: Look guys! Look! I just won the lottery! Now, is it enough to buy out the _Naruto © _franchise...? No? Darn.

**1.5 (Chat Noir) **

"**Chat noir," translated from French, means "black cat." There are thousands of mysteries and myths surrounding felines, dating back to when they were worshiped in Egypt. There are Old Wives' Tales about how letting a black or white cat into your home is the same as showing hospitality to a witch and gaining their favor for cats were a common familiar for witches. Crossing one's path and not helping would bring bad luck upon your home, for you would have been rude to a more powerful being. **

---

"So let me get this straight: you've formed a habit of talking to your cat, inanimate objects, and the wind?"

"Which is why it's becoming pointless to even sleep anymore." Naruto gestured from within his sleeves. "By the way, sometimes the inanimate objects talk _back_, too."

"That's even worse. Why can't you sleep?"

"Because if I do I don't even get to rest; it's like something's trying to kill me from the inside. I'm down to my last few marbles. But–!" Naruto stopped his guest and himself on the sidewalk, his finger poking out of the long sleeve of his sweatshirt to make a point. "I've found that if I get the nightmares over with, I can sleep pretty okay after that if I fall asleep again."

"Ooookay..." Sasuke adjusted his duffle bag's strap on his shoulder. "What sort of dreams are these, anyway?"

"Scary ones." Naruto turned around and walked backwards, facing Sasuke, who was squinting into the rain. Neither of them had umbrellas, but it wasn't too bad. The only negative side to the weather that day was that it had unpredictable gusts of wind accompanying it. He glanced over his shoulder. "Warn me if anybody's behind me, 'kay?"

Sasuke nodded, then picked up the conversation. "What kind of scary? Embarrassing-scary, nervous-scary, or about-to-fall-off-a-cliff-scary?"

"How about about-to-be-bitten-by-a-vampire-scary?"

"All right, that's a start. Any details you'd care to disclose?" The Medic Alert charm attached to his wristwatch jingled as he re-wrapped his scarf around his neck.

"Nope. Do you ever have nightmares?"

"Eehh..." It was a verbal shrug. "Not really. I stopped dreaming on a regular basis when I was about thirteen. Nightmares stopped even before that."

"Oh, you poor thing. They say those who stop dreaming are those with no imagination. Though I envy the not having nightmares part."

Sasuke gave an amused smile at Naruto's playful sarcasm. "I have plenty of imagination, thank you very much."

"You're quite welcome." Naruto made to bow; his grand gesture ended up with him tripping and bumping into an innocent passer-by. He jumped up quickly, throwing out apologies to the person, who had already brushed themself off and walked away.

Sasuke stood next to Naruto as he smoothed down his coat and readjusted his bag. "Well, that's embarrassing." He laughed. Naruto blushed. Embarrassing for him or for Sasuke? "Where's the restaurant, anyway?"

Naruto stood up straight and fake-marched down the crosswalk, pointing with a stiff arm. "Why, just a few blocks, sir. Am I boring you already?" He was acting overeager, and he knew it. It was embarrassing, but somehow he couldn't stop. He hadn't _really_ seen Sasuke in years! The abnormal morning a few days ago didn't count in his book.

"No, not really. Your antics are pretty entertaining."

"Then I shall do my best!" Naruto saluted Sasuke, then returned to his normal, relaxed walk, no longer facing Sasuke as moved. He let out a gust of air. "Man, it's been _forever _since we've seen each other. I just don't want to seem, I dunno...lame? It's like if I don't impress you now you won't want to see me again, and that would just suck 'cause we were best buds in high school. I don't want all the stories about leaving old lives behind after high school to be true, ya know?" He looked over at Sasuke, who somehow was managing to look at Naruto and still walk in a straight line. It was a weird feeling to be caught looking at someone.

Sasuke, as if having the exact same thoughts, faced forward again. The steady beat of the duffle bag against his legs marked out each step. "Yeah. I feel the same way. But it's always kind of like this when you first meet someone."

"But this _isn't_ the first time we've met!"

"Yeah, but it's been a long time. For all _you _know, I might have turned into a serial killer in the past few years. Or gone insane."

"You don't _look_ crazy."

"The best of us are good at hiding it." He smiled wryly. "For all _I _know, you might secretly be a black belt and best friends with the Karate Kid."

"Maybe I _am _a black belt." He play-chopped Sasuke's head, who calmly moved his hand away from his face, the smile there the whole time.

"The bubble. Remember the bubble," said Sasuke, bringing up the concept Naruto had invented for him junior year.

"Ah, yes, the infamous bubble."

Back in high school, there were almost always people who wanted to be near Sasuke, who, truth be told, wasn't much of an extrovert. He had tended to have a few constant friends and shun the rest. One particular day, when persistent admirers were at staggering levels, Naruto had stood up, pushed people away to form a circle, and then announced, "There is a _bubble _here. A pretty _big_ bubble, too. You know what _that _means? You can't come in. If Sasuke _wanted _you in this bubble he would let you know. Unfortunately for _you_, Sasuke is busy trying to get last night's science homework done, and can't come to the phone to answer your annoying buzzing, so why don't you just respect the bubble and wander away, all right?" Naruto was ignored by the majority of the student population that year, but, for the most part, it worked. People hadn't bothered Sasuke quite as much after that.

They walked the last few blocks, Naruto's playful banter fueling some unserious discussions. It was ground to work off of. If they could joke, they could, theoretically, have actual conversations. Maybe this would work.

---

"So tell me, if you don't mind my asking, what happened after graduation?" Naruto picked up his fork and stabbed a piece of lasagna. "The rest of us were gonna try and get together for some sort of party afterwards, but you just disappeared. We couldn't find you, and the next day Ino went to your house to see if you were home and there was a for-sale sign. It was like you'd been pushed off the face of the planet."

Sasuke swallowed his mouthful of pasta before answering. "Actually, I _do _mind. Quite a bit, in fact. But I guess I can give you the basics of the beginning. Do you mind long stories?"

"Not really."

"Okay then. The day started out great, if a bit hectic. I ran around the house for a while trying to find all my stuff, and then grabbed a ride with you guys– you remember, right?"

"Mm-hm."

"We got to graduation early, helped set up and all that. The whole process went really smoothly, and a few hours later we all had our diplomas. I was gonna go find you guys– Uchiha, way back in the U's, is pretty far from Haruno and Inzuka–"

Naruto interrupted. "You're forgetting Uzumaki. I'm way back in the U's too, ya know."

"Yeah, but you'd already bound across the sea of overturned chairs to everybody."

"Sounds like me."

"It was. But anyway, I was going to find you guys when a couple of police officers stopped me and told me to go with them."

Naruto's interest was piqued. "What? Why?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, as if trying to figure out how to phrase his next words. "Well..."

"Yes?" Naruto leaned forward expectantly.

"My life basically turned into an overused CSI plot. Apparently, the UPS people had come to our door to get a signature for a package, and saw a body on the floor through the tiny window in the door."

"What?!"

Sasuke set down his fork, fiddling with his napkin. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't yell," he said quietly.

Naruto was embarrassed. He settled back down into his chair. "Sorry. Go on."

"He called for an ambulance like any sensible person would do, and they'd had to break open the door. What the paramedics saw was pretty damn gruesome, or so the police told me-- several bodies on our foyer floor. We'd had family over to celebrate graduation, and...it was...they were all..." Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, taking large, long breaths.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry. You don't have to finish. It's okay. I didn't know."

"No, it's all right. I have to finish or it's gonna end on a very weird note." He waved Naruto's apology away with one hand. It took a few minutes, but eventually Sasuke was able to sit up straight again and continue.

"Itachi– my brother– was missing. The police suspected that whoever the killer was had kidnapped him, but I had my own suspicions." He stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry. This is getting to be somewhat dangerous territory."

"It's all right. You really don't have to finish. Honestly." Naruto leaned over the table and patted Sasuke on the back. It was a little awkward though, considering the water glasses and all.

"Here's the last of it: I think– I _know_– that it was Itachi who killed them."

"What? How would he do that?"

"Kitchen knife? I don't know. He was helping prepare food that day. I _know _it was him. If it was a hostage situation there'd have at least been a note or a phone call, right?"

"Did you tell the police what you thought?"

Sasuke looked up. His eyes were still a little watery, but no tears had escaped. "Well, yeah, of course. It's not like they really considered it. And there wasn't any proof. We had a lot of money back then. The police just thought the killer was after a quick buck."

"Oh. Wow." They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes before the server came to take plates away. Neither of them had really touched their food. The waitress looked curiously at the two of them, and Naruto realized what this might've looked like: Two obviously stylish– well, he had to give himself points sometime, right?– men in their twenties eating at a cheap restaurant on a rainy day, one of them beautiful– because there was no denying that fact– but with teary eyes, the other trying frantically to figure out what to do about it. No wonder the waitress was looking at them like that. It was a slightly odd sight.

"Let's just...leave, all right?

Naruto looked around. Though there weren't very many people in the restaurant yet, he knew from experience as a waiter that the busiest time would be coming up soon. "Sure. You can drop your stuff back at my place and we can figure out what to do from there."

Sasuke smiled a weak smile. "Heh. Sure. That sounds good."

---

They had left the restaurant some time ago. Sasuke was still looking down, which made things just a teensy bit awkward for Naruto, who wasn't all that sure how to help. His usual cheering-up tactics were acting stupid for cheap laughs, but he'd basically done that the whole way _there_. He didn't want to seem too clownish. He kept having to remind himself that he was a _big boy_ now, and that laughter _wasn't _always the best medicine.

He decided to settle for providing a companionable and hopefully comforting silence.

By the time they reached Naruto's building, Sasuke seemed to be fine again. He hadn't seemed to be that talkative that day, so it was hard to tell.

For Naruto, however, their arrival triggered several things, and not all of them good:

One (1): he remembered his massacred couch and wondered how to explain_ that _one.

Two (2): for some unfathomable reason, he remembered that he needed to buy more turkey bacon.

Three (3): Mona was sitting in the hall outside his door (facing her's), reading a book. She looked up when she heard footsteps, closing her novel.

"Hello, Sunshine." She stood up.

"Hey Mona."

She peered curiously at Sasuke. "And who might this be?"

"This _might _be Sasuke Uchiha, a friend of mine with whom I've only recently been reacquainted." He turned to Sasuke. "This is Mona."

She rolled her eyes. "And of course there's no explanation. Of course." She smiled at Sasuke and held out her hand. Sasuke shook it, which seemed to please her immensely. "I'm his neighbor. I live right there" – she pointed to her door– "and basically act like the mother he never had. Sad, right?"

"Um..." was all Sasuke could manage to say to the strange creature calling itself a human female.

Naruto turned to Sasuke again. "You really don't need to say anything. She struck me as a little odd too when we first talked." The he looked at Mona. "Why are you waiting out here, anyway?"

"Premonition," said Mona, tapping her head with a finger. She waggled her eyebrows. "I saw the outcome of the day. Didn't see _him_, though." She nodded at Sasuke.

"Seriously."

"The utilities people called me because they couldn't get hold of you. You _did _pay your bills this month, right?"

"Well, yeah, I mean..." He really did not want to talk about bills in front of Sasuke– he wouldn't have in front of anybody who couldn't join in, really. It was rude. "I'll call them later, all right?"

"Okay then. See ya." She opened her door– kept unlocked– and went inside, leaving Naruto and Sasuke by themselves under the fluorescent lighting.

Naruto unlocked his door and immediately tried to move a folded blanket so it hung off the arm of the couch in a way that made it look like it was unintentionally covering the massive rip.

"What's wrong with your couch?" Clearly his attempts had failed.

"Freud."

"Freud," Sasuke repeated. "Is that some kind of new swear?"

"My cat," Naruto explained. "He likes to shred stuff apart when he's hungry and I'm not around to feed or stop him. Usually the couch is his victim."

"All right..."

"Speaking of which, I'd better feed him before he goes on a rampage." Naruto ventured into the kitchen, where he quickly pulled out all the ingredients for Freud's meal, all the while explaining out loud what each jar was for Sasuke, who had wandered in after taking off his coat.

"Okay, so this is a pre-ground and -mixed combination of raw chicken, turkey sausages– normally I'd use turkey _bacon_– liver, and egg yolks. Cats need a lot of protein, which is why the myth about cats loving fish formed."

"Don't you need to cook the meat?" Sasuke had sat down at the kitchen table and was now watching with interest.

Naruto glanced over. "Nah. Most vets say this isn't really safe, but I did a bunch of research, and it is." He dumped the oddly-colored mixture into a bowl, mushed it up a bit, and then tossed in some powdered stuff from a couple different bottles.

"What are those?" Sasuke asked.

"Probiotic enzymes, ground up vitamins, gelatin...there's a couple more things in there too."

Sasuke nodded like he understood. "Any hints as to what the "other things" are?"

"It's a secret." Naruto grinned at Sasuke, then glanced at his watch, then back at Sasuke. As he dumped a portion of the meat in Freud's dish with a soft splat, he said, "Any second now..."

"What?"

"Just watch the bowl." He held a finger to his lips.

It seemed to Sasuke as if he had only blinked, but the next thing he saw was a gray blur. A soft thump was heard and the blur solidified into wiry, gray cat scarfing down the food in its bowl.

"That's Freud, then?" Sasuke stood up. He moved forward, wanting to pet the cat, but Naruto stopped him.

"He's pretty friendly, but it's just a weensy bit stupid to try and touch an animal when it's eating. They naturally think you're trying to take their food, and then they'll attack you. Usually Freud'll just snap at you, but...uh, well, you're not even remotely familiar to him, so I can't guarantee the results. It's better to be safe."

Sasuke withdrew his hand and settled for watching the cat eat. It was an odd combination of movements: open mouth, stick out tongue, scoop food in with tongue, chew some, swallow, repeat.

"I've never really owned a cat," Sasuke confided. "We had a dog, but..."

"Itachi?" Naruto wasn't sure he was still in safe territory, but he decided to take a chance.

Still watching Freud, Sasuke replied, "no. Old age. Fish died pretty old– twenty years."

"You had fish, too? Man. Freud's my first pet, like, _ever_, and so far I don't really have that good of an impression."

"No no no no no. The dog was _named _Fish. He was pretty much my parents' first kid. They adopted him a while before Itachi was born."

"Oh. Must've been nice."

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "It was. He used to lie on people's feet all the time. I never needed slippers."

Naruto nodded, then extended a hand to pet Freud, who was stretching and yawning in preparation for what was probably a post-meal nap in a cabinet somewhere. He rubbed the cat's head and what would be called cheeks if Freud was human. The cat purred loudly, eyes closed.

"Here, you can pet him if you want. Do you need anything? I have the leftovers in the carry-out boxes over there..." He waved his hand in the general direction of the box.

Sasuke replaced Naruto's hand on the cat's back with his own. If it noticed it didn't show. "No thanks. I'm not really into raw eggs."

Naruto smirked at the joke. "Whatever you say." He then filled a low dish with water and set it on the counter. "Freud'll drink from this if he gets thirsty."

There was silence while Naruto cleaned up and Sasuke petted Freud, who filled the quiet with motor-like purrs.

Sasuke was absolutely captivated by the feline. Every movement was full of grace. It was amazing. Freud lazily rolled onto his back, inviting Sasuke to rub his belly. He went for the stomach, rubbing gently. He could feel the tiny drum beat of the cat's heart, but only for a second before it lashed out at him and scratched his arm. Sasuke quickly jerked his arm away, and Freud stood up and strode out of the room on taut legs, tail erect in the air.

"Ouch." Sasuke wiped what little blood was there away. There were three small scratches. None of them were that deep, but they stung.

Naruto pulled Sasuke's arm towards himself and examined it.

"You'll be fine. Just rinse it off in the sink– he's done that to me a million times." He displayed his own forearms, not seeming to have noticed how Sasuke had pulled his arm away just a little bit quickly. Naruto's thinly-muscled arms were criss-crossed with short, thin, pale pink lines. "He's been kinda sensitive since the vet took away his equipment. Even though it was over a _year _ago." He rolled his eyes. "My cat, the drama queen."

Sasuke washed off his arm and patted it dry with a nearby dishtowel.

They were quiet for a minute, clearly thinking the same thing: _Now what?_

"So..." Naruto started. "What should we do now?"

Sasuke walked through the doorway from the kitchen to the living room, disappearing from Naruto's view. His voice floated from the left.

"How about _you _tell _me _what_ you_ did after high school?"

After a moment's pause, he nodded to himself (there's no way Sasuke could've seen him) and followed, coming into the room just in time to see Sasuke in the final movements of getting comfortable in a chair. "Okay then."

After settling into the pitifully gored couch on the opposite side of the room, he started in on his story:

"So, before I begin, I'd like for you to imagine yourself in a dark tunnel. There's a voice coming from the seeming nothingness, and you're a little creeped out. You're not paying attention to the words because they're spoken in one monotonous, level tone, but when music begins to be piped in from the very air you breathe you tune in..."

Sasuke interrupted. "Hold on a second. Where exactly are you going with this?"

Naruto grinned in what he hoped was a maniacal manner. "Why, Sasuke...we're going into..." he started in with the "DOOdooDOOdoo DOOdooDOOdoo...," then dropped his voice a pitch lower and forced it louder. "...**the Twilight Zone**."

Continued in **1.6 (Phantasmagoria)**

---

Hola, ya'll! For the record, I'm not Texan or Mexican, nor do I even remotely resemble a Chihuahua, but mixing cultures is always fun.

Anyhoo, I'd like to let anybody who was waiting know that I was on vacation for a week, not dead. I repeat: I was _not_ doing any of the following: singing with the angels, having my having my Heart Weighed by Osiris, or pushing up daisies, or any other kind of flower, for that matter. However, I _was _in a quote-unquote "better place": Florida.

As for why I didn't update like I promised...um, well, you see, I have to DRIVE down to Florida every year, for about 14 hours a day for three days, and I hadn't exactly finished packing that fateful morning we were supposed to leave. Long story short, I made my family fall behind schedule and forgot a crucial article of clothing (my Happy Jeans), not to mention I didn't pack any socks, which I discovered when we got to the first hotel. But that's a tangent. The main thread is about how I don't take my flash drive with me on trips and that I didn't have access to a computer for the longest time for any less than a fee of 10 dollars for 10 minutes.

Rants aside, happy new year! Here's to vows that break early and streamers caught on lamp shades! -clink!- L'Chaim!! ("To life!" or, more accurately, "To our lives!")

Hot_ damn_ that's a lot of writing. I need to use my LJ account more so you guys don't need to suffer through this any longer... -sigh-


	6. Phantasmagoria

Beginning Note: Do you honestly have any idea how intimidating WordPerfect 12 is when it's just a blank screen?! It's like, it's like it's yelling at me, "Write more, slave! More! Faster! More puns! More dangerously flirtatious language!" And then it cracks a whip (a.k.a.. my mouse). "More! Faster! Write, you fugly bitch!"

Anyhoo, here's the disclaimer: I don't own a thing 'cept my own mind, soul, and body (and the clothes that cover it). Pity me. I'm like a self-owned Barbie Doll. With smaller boobs.

But now, my lovelies, I present to you:

**1.6 (Phantasmagoria)**

**Phantasmagoria: (****noun****) a sequence of real or imaginary images like that seen in a dream.**

---

Naruto, all theatrics aside, was trying to tell his story as interestingly as possible.

"All right, so, like, after my hum-drum little life back home, I moved way up to the amazing and fantastic City, where everybody's goblet, so said the ads, was sure to runneth over. Ino was basically attached to my hip and we stuck together for awhile while we each tried to find our calling in the cesspit-slash-banquet of humanity. Ino wanted to get into showbiz, but there's already tons of blonde-hair-blue-eyed girls on the stages."

Sasuke calmly moved a piece of hair out of his eyes and readjusted his position. "Excuse my interruption, but can we jump to your side of the story? Not that I don't care, I just don't..." He gestured with his hands.

"Care?" Naruto grinned. "That's fine. Okay, well, I wanted, for the most part, to just find my niche real quick and then hole up in it while I did some creative venturing. Unfortunately, niches seem to cost quite a bit when you don't want to die of exhaust exposure when you set foot outside your door, so we sort of ran out of money kind of quick. But only sorta kinda maybe not really: see, Ino's parents are like super supportive and because I'm a guy and they were scared she'd never find love– we weren't together, by the way, we just wanted them to think that so they wouldn't bug her– well, anyways, they kind of gave us a river of cash, should we ever need to go fishing for whatever it would be we'd need.

"But after I think maybe five months we were starting to feel a little guilty for using them like that, so we spilled the metaphorical beans and we moved over here. Ino was, originally, using my now-office as her bedroom, by the way." He pointed vaguely in the general direction of the closed art room door. "We split the rent and all that good stuff. We both have jobs at this one restaurant, so I still see her. Just...not as much." Naruto shrugged, then scratched at his neck. Fortunately, nothing too weird happened like it had last night.

"And after all the blah-blah-blah-ness, Ino's gone off to her own apartment, has a dog and a boyfriend, and she's pretty damn happy. I, on the other hand, am a lonely son of a bitch living with a psychotic cat and working two jobs while I try to get published." He paused. "You mind if I ramble a bit? It's kind of sad."

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

"All righty then. Well, anyway, life's gotten this kind of morbid monotony. I haven't seen or heard from Sakura in three years, Kiba's gone off to the military, and a couple of my friends are dead. That's not supposed to happen until I'm, like, eighty or something! Friends dying is pretty damn serious. I never thought I'd be outliving my friends. I always expected to die in my thirties setting the world recored for highest cliff jump or something...And hearing that my friends are dying is, well...it's pretty god-damned serious. "

"Of course," Sasuke said grimly. Then again, more quietly. "Of course." After a minute of mournful silence, he spoke again. "Who exactly is dead?" It was almost like Sasuke had asked as an afterthought.

Naruto snapped to attention. He'd been spacing out, lost in thought. "The fatalities are as follows: Haku: killed in drive-by shooting; Choji: food poisoning; Shino: attacked by snake while on expedition. Didn't live to the hospital. And Lee was killed a freak accident– he was helping move some furniture for a neighbor and the other person dropped the couch they were both lifting, accidentally dropping it on him and pushing him down a flight of stairs with the couch where it landed on him, crushing his ribs, a couple of which punctured his lungs. He drowned in his own blood." Naruto drew his knees to his chest. He was feeling positively sick.

Sasuke looked horrified. "That's horrible."

"Mm." Naruto gave a meek nod.

"You know what? On second thought, you don't really have to share. It's fine."

Naruto's head shot up. "What? You got to give _your_ share of angst. And while it might not exactly be my life dream to talk about all the tragedy I've experienced in the last few years, I feel it's my duty to at least make you feel like you're not the only one with problems."

Sasuke wasn't cracking a smile. "Your friends were my friends too. Hearing that four of them are dead when I didn't even get to say good-bye on graduation day is a bit of a downer for me."

Naruto closed his eyes. "Oh, Jesus. This sucks. And here I thought this might be at least a little fun, talking with you. Turns out all we've got in common is tragedy. Bleh." He let out a big puff of breath. "This _really_ sucks."

After a few minutes of silence, he heard Sasuke get up from the chair with many squeaks and creaks from the frame. Then came the shuffling of paper and other things, and then, finally, Sasuke's voice again.

"Wanna play Uno?"

---

Two hours, four CDs, a gallon of Sunny D and eight rounds of Uno later, Sasuke and Naruto, with the help of Mona, were back to thinking on the bright side of life. Naruto's neighbor had shown up when called, toting a sack of music and lots and lots of conversation. She had cajoled and joked both Naruto and Sasuke back to what she thought to be a good level of happiness. When the general time most people ate dinner came and passed, she took it upon herself to order a pizza. When she'd gotten off the phone and peeked in the room they'd been sitting in for the past few hours, she was happy to see Naruto and his friend sitting and laughing, Naruto swigging from the gallon jug every now and then.

Sasuke, though his first impression to Mona was that he was a bit reserved, seemed to actually be pretty nice. When he smiled he truly looked happy, though the smiles never did last long. And when Freud had wandered into the room and settled next to Sasuke, the man had rubbed the cat's head, another good sign. He looked nice. Like a good person. He could take– and make– a joke.

There was only one problem, as far as Mona could tell: he was still holding back. Mona knew she was pretty good at reading people. For her, most humans were like open books in big block print, and usually it was pretty nice not to have to wonder about the people around her. But Sasuke...Sasuke was different. He wasn't like others. For some reason, he seemed to have a few of his metaphorical pages stuck together, so Mona kept having to try harder to figure out what was going on. In some ways, it was like Sasuke was hiding something. He had a guarded attitude about him.

First, she thought maybe it was just her. Sasuke _just_met her. Of course he'd be a little shy! But it looked like even when she wasn't there he was keeping something from Naruto. Hadn't they known each other previously? The whole situation didn't sit right with Mona.

But if Naruto trusted him, so would she. After all, it wasn't like she'd hung out with Sasuke every day for years like Naruto had. She wasn't as familiar with him. Who was she to judge?

---

Sasuke laughed at another ludicrous joke. They'd been playing for hours, music on almost constantly in the background playing like a misfit soundtrack to a very odd movie. He'd only won once, and that was just because he happened to get three Wild plus-4 cards and several reverses. That and Naruto was kind of sucky at hiding his hand.

"You're bleeding again, Naruto." Sasuke made a point to lean over and stare blatantly at Naruto's assortment of cards. Most of them were yellow.

"What?! I blame _you_!" Naruto jabbed a finger at Sasuke.

"What!" Sasuke mocked Naruto, making extravagant gestures as if offended. "How is this _my_ fault? You simply _can't_blame me, good sir– your wrist is positively droopy!"

"Well, exc_use_ me!" Naruto twisted around to shout to Mona in the kitchen. "Hey! Mona, what's taking so long!? Get back to the game!"

He was surprised to see that she was standing right behind him, only instead of holding a cup or book, she had her coat on and a roll of dollar bills in her hand. She leaned down next to his ear. "Dude, you don't need to shout. I'm right here!" she said extra-loudly. Then, straightening up to her full height, she handed Naruto the wad of bills. "I ordered you a pizza. Pay for it with that when it comes. I've gotta go home, man. It's like ten o'clock already."

"What?! Seriously?" Naruto jerked on his sleeves, revealing a watch. It did indeed say it was a little past ten in the evening. "Geeze. Well, say hi to your coward of a dog for me, 'kay?"

"Yup." She gathered her belongings and walked towards the door. "Hey, should I take my CDs back now, or do you just want to give 'em back tomorrow?"

"Ummm..." Naruto thought for a second. "Does tomorrow sound good to you?"

"Sure. Well, see ya. Nice meeting you, Sasuke." She waved. Sasuke nodded in response.

"Good night!" Naruto called as the door clicked shut.

Then he sighed.

Sasuke leaned back against the couch, then voiced what Naruto appeared to want to say: "She's sure a ball of energy, isn't she?"

---

Naruto yawned, then lazily picked the crumbs from his shirt. It was nearing eleven. Sasuke had stretched out on the couch and Naruto'd stayed on the floor while they talked, words escaping through mouthfuls of pizza, and now it was late. In the background Billie Holiday crooned, the bittersweet tunes seeming to seep into the very furniture as the two men lay back in their respective seats.

From the floor Naruto heard Sasuke shift on the couch. It was only a slight movement. He didn't pay any more attention to it than he already had, opting instead to roll over on his stomach and close his eyes, savoring the warmth of his home and the air saturated with music.

They both lay there for quite a while, Naruto breathing steadily and slowly. It felt _good _to just breathe. How long had it been since he'd been able to just hang out with Sasuke like this? Ages. Several years since the last time they'd had a casual sit-around at either of their homes. Years since they'd just sat on the floor playing cards or listening to music.

"I feel like I'm in high school again. This is such a trip." He looked up through sleep-lidded eyes at Sasuke, who was now peering lazily over the side of the couch. He'd gathered the blanket from the gaping hole in the side, apparently, and put it over himself. He looked comfortable.

"How so?" Sasuke asked through a yawn.

"It's just been a while since we've...you know. Been able to just... chill."

"It's been a while since we've even _seen_each other, stupid."

"What's with the insults?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

He saw Sasuke give a slight raise of the shoulders: a shrug. "Nothing. I just figured that, you know, if we're back to our old ways I might as well give you back your old nickname." He saw Sasuke smile. Well, to tell the truth, it was more a smirk, really. But that was such a _cliche_ term. And who honestly wants to be cliche?

Naruto, on the inside, was very very happy. So Sasuke considered them friends again? Great! Fantastic! Naruto was overjoyed.

---

**Where will you go when all you had is gone? Nowhere. You will go nowhere. You will disappear, simply cease to exist. **

Naruto struggled but was held down. Minimal breathing– now no breath. There was no air: none to breathe. He fought against the weight on his chest, on his face, on his very soul. Something was sitting there, perched there; something was draining him and his world of color; even though there was nothing to look at in the darkness he was in he knew the color would be seeping outside the boundaries of the shapes. It was like being in a blender: everything was loud but silently noiseless and crazily sane. And mangoes were the center of it all.

**When will the darkness recede? Never. Not ever. There will never be a time when your sleep is uninterrupted and your thoughts flow freely.**

There was something there– there was something _in his head_! He thrashed and lashed out and pushed and groaned and groveled; the beast on top of him moved not an inch. His arms were bound to the sides. When looked at he saw his arms fading into oblivion. He was stretching to the very edges of the earth: there were no mortal boundaries to be played or pushed at. His legs were the same: disappearing off the edges of his sight and into the abyss from which all of nothing came.

**Why do you run? You run because you are afraid. There is nothing to fear but fear itself; fear me. I am the maker of fear, and when fear is created terror is born; when terror is born horror strikes; and when horror strikes and am there to bind it all together. Why do you run? Why do you stumble? Why do you wish to escape?**

**There is nothing here but fear, and fear is all that will ever be known. Adapt and you shall be a Ruler.**

The weight spread. It started from his feet, leaking in through his toenails and seeping up through his ankles to his calves; coursing through his thighs and torso; burning over his arms, stinging his neck, snaking around his cheeks, sinking into the very cartilage of his ears and then sinking finally into his eyes, his very retinas. His whole body was weight, was lead, was pure consciousness. He was aware of every single pore and vein in his body. Breath was loud; the pounding of his heart was as clear to him as a tribal drum.

The great force above his pressed into his throat. His jugular bent into the weight, succumbed to the pressure on it. Sharp objects– teeth, Naruto realized too late– became prominent. The teeth became sharper, more defined. The weight disappeared, leaving Naruto feeling hollow and empty, and indescribably light. There was no pain, but somehow Naruto knew he'd been bitten. Heat pooled and ran down his throat, his chest. Thick, red rivers ran over his collarbone and between the sharp, defined muscles of his chest.

He was losing heat with every second, and it was agony.

**Adapt and you shall be a Prince, learn and you shall rise. Refuse and you shall sink, reject and you shall die.**

And rise he did, into the high-above, into the sky, into the inky blackness that dominated the airspace above him. He rose, and rose, and rose, and never did he stop or pause in his ascent to the heavens; never did a thought cross his mind. The only sensation was the slow drip-drips of his blood as it flowed out of him and down through the dark to the ground below, which seemed suddenly very close and awfully hostile today–

---

"Naruto!" He was being shaken. He was shaking and being shoved. A shoulder hit a table, another side hit a couch, and a hard, cold hand was on his face, was on his forehead, was touching his eyelids and shaking his shoulders while he tossed back and forth in the confines of his space on the floor with his eyes screwed shut. "Naruto! Open your goddamned eyes! You're awake! You're freaking awake! Open your eyes!"

He felt a slap to the face, a tug on his lids; he opened them to see a truly awesome sight. Sasuke was shaking him. A look of simultaneous deep concern and some sort of cold anger was present. It appeared to Naruto that he'd scared the living daylights out of his friend.

Sasuke moved hair out of Naruto's face and leaned him back while he recovered from his dream. Sasuke was visibly shaken. He ran his hands through his hair, an exasperated, I'm-freaked-out-now kind of gesture. His hands, when held out in front of him, were wobbling. Naruto watched as Sasuke covered his eyes and let out a huge breath.

"Jesus Christ, Naruto. I thought you were having a seizure or something. Are you okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I'm okay now."

Sasuke sat up straight against the couch and looked at him, scrutinizing. "Are you sure? Because here's what I saw: you, sleeping, then suddenly rolling around like a maniac and going all spasmodic on me. Do you have any idea how scared I got? I was terrified! _Terrified_! I have never, not once in my life, seen someone die _right in front of _me."

"I'm sorry. This is usually the way it goes."

Sasuke looked up, blinking away tears of frustration from his watery eyes. "What?"

Naruto looked up. For some reason he was feeling guilty. "I'll fall asleep at night, get some crazy dream and wake up all of a sudden with the shit scared out of me and my body jerking around like a rag doll on crack. And the dreams–! My god, do you even want to know?" He hid his face, breathing harder than before as he remembered the weight that had been on his chest.

Sasuke slid down off the couch so he was sitting next to Naruto on the floor. After a slight pause, he carefully laid an arm around Naruto's shoulders, trying to, in some way, tell him that he was fine now. But he did want to know...

"Yes. I do. Remember I was asking you about your dreams before? Earlier?"

"Yeah." Naruto sat up a little, resting his chin on his knees. It was an improvement, as far as Sasuke could see.

Sasuke took his arm off Naruto's shoulders; it was a little awkward. "So go on: describe. Tell me what happened this time."

"Well, they're all kind of like this one so... Anyway, they've all been terrifying so far, and I don't usually remember what was so scary. I just...well, to tell the truth, I just wake up freaking out, run to the light switch and either sit around thinking, write what I _can_ remember down, or go and do art to try and calm my nerves."

"All right then. Which do you usually do?"

"Draw or something of the like."

"Okay. Tell me more about your dreams."

"Umm..." Naruto drew out the syllable. How to word this, he thought silently. How the hell do I even explain this sort of thing? "Well, a lot of the time there's blood involved. Like, my blood. Always. And pain, and restriction, and this _voice_ that's in my head and all around completely at the same time."

"What does the voice say?"

Naruto gave him a _look_. "You sound like a therapist. 'What do the voices say, Sonny?'"

Sasuke hit him on the arm. "I do not."

"Yes you do."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"This is stupid. Just tell me."

Naruto sighed and resorted back to using his hands to illustrate. "Well, a lot of the time it's spouting gibberish about how I'm running from something, even though I don't know what it means. Or it's like, 'join me, join me'. Or it's talking about other things, horrible things, blood and pain and the illusions of reality."

"You've got a twisted imagination."

"I know, okay? I know. I'm the one who's suffering here."

They sat there. Sasuke wasn't sure what to say. Should he continue with the 'I'm a shrink, tell me all your problems' charade, or what?

He decided to keep it up and tried prompting Naruto. Obviously he hadn't really talked about this with anybody else yet; or at least he hadn't gotten help. "You said you did art before, right? To calm your nerves?"

"Yeah. Drawing, usually. Just stuff. Or collage. Except I don't usually do collage because I cut myself by accident this one time and the blood reminded me of my dream too much and...well, you get, right? Drawing's good."

"So draw. Or read."

Naruto stood up off the floor. His legs were a little wobbly from being on the floor so long, but otherwise he was fine. Just a little shaken.

"That's a good idea. I'm gonna go get a book."

Sasuke watched as Naruto padded across the well-lit room through a door– his bedroom, Sasuke presumed.

A minute or two later Naruto came back into the living room with his book and sat down in the large, comfortable chair across from the couch Sasuke was stretched out on with the blanket once again over his legs, this time with the addition of a rather thick book in his hands. He opened his book, reading quietly and just enjoying the comfortable silence.

---

It was sometime around midnight that Naruto started dozing off. It'd start with him reading a page, then, a minute later, realize he was rereading the same set of words. Then a while later he opened his eyes quite suddenly, not having been aware that they'd closed. He excused himself.

"I'm afraid it..." he was interrupted by a tremendous yawn "...is way too late. I've gotta sleep soon or I'm gonna be messed up tomorrow." Sasuke was still reading intently.

"Okay," he heard Sasuke murmur. "See ya. Mind if I just sleep on this couch?"

"Nah. Go 'head. Later." He began shuffling off in the direction of his room.

"Yup."

He heard a page turn from the living room as he shut his bedroom door.

---

Little more than an hour later he awoke once again to his heart pounding out a fierce drumbeat in his chest and sweat pooling on his brow while he tried to reclaim lost breaths. His hands were shaking; his feet were cold; his legs hurt; his _face_hurt. Everything hurt. It was like the entirety of his skin was sore, was too sensitive, was made of a faint pain that was woven in at the beginning of his existence. He touched his face frantically, making sure everything was where it should be.

He'd been dreaming of a massacre, simple as that. Blood everywhere, and just when the pain was supposed to hit him he'd opened his eyes quite suddenly and almost broken his lamp trying to get it to turn on.

Carefully, consciously avoiding the dark beneath his bed, Naruto leap and bound across the floor to his door and slipped into the bathroom. Once there he took a towel off the rack and let the water from the faucet run over and soak into it. He put the towel to his face. It was so cool and calming. The simple darkness and the cold wetness felt wonderful, exquisite. With his eyes closed he could pretend that nothing was wrong. There was nothing outside the simplicity of the cool darkness his head was resting in.

He dropped the towel on the counter: time to go back to bed. Or get a drink first. But before he left the room he took a peek at his neck, where the bruises were. Upon inspection they had faded to almost nothing. However, strangely enough, a small scar was forming, spreading out from the center of each bruise. It was merely a minuscule circle of pink flesh in the center of the bruise, but it still worried him a bit. How strange, Naruto thought to himself. I really didn't think I was hurt that badly...

He touched his neck where the scars should have been. Nothing– not a single bump was noticeable, not to Naruto's hands. It was completely smooth. "Weird," he muttered.

He carefully folded the towel back up and put it away, then walked into the living room which was adjacent to the kitchen area. When he tiredly glanced at the couch he was surprised to see that Sasuke was still sitting up with the same book as before leaned against his knees. Glasses were perched on his nose and, though his eyes looked like they were ready to close, Sasuke looked thoroughly absorbed in the pages. Naruto fixed himself a glass of milk and sat back down in the big chair.

"What are you reading, anyway?" Naruto asked, taking a sip of his milk.

Sasuke looked up suddenly, like he hadn't heard Naruto come in or bang around in the kitchen getting a cup. Who knows? Naruto thought. Maybe he hadn't. "What?"

Naruto pointed. "What book?"

Sasuke lifted it up for him to see. "_The Vampire Lestat,_ by Anne Rice."

"Is it any good?"

"Chock full of vampirey awesomeness."

Naruto pulled his legs up, shifting so he could sit Indian-style in the chair. "What exactly is so interesting about it, anyway? For all my worth I've only had bad experiences with imaginary, blood-sucking fiends."

"Well, what I like is that Anne Rice incorporates a lot of religious-type ideas in. And she's really descriptive. As you can see I've been drawn into the wee hours of the morning by her words."

"How very articulate of you." Naruto took another sip. Talking was helping him get out of the freaking-out zone he always got from waking up from a nightmare.

"Thank you. Right now I'm reading about Lestat's experiences in the French theater and trying to get Nicholas a better part with his violin. And still he's got these weird notions."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, you know that, right?"

"Yup."

"...So_why_do you like to read that sort of thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's so attractive about vampires? I just don't see the appeal."

Sasuke dog-eared the page corner and closed the book before answering. "I think part of it is the mystery, and just how many vastly different views and theories there are. Countless people have come up with numerous ways to describe the intriguing lifestyle of vampires. Can they go out by day? What about garlic? Or holy objects? Where does the lust for blood come from? Who was the first vampire? Are there any specific types of blood that a vampire needs? How often? Et Cetera. The questions are endless, as are the answers offered."

Naruto was finished with his milk by the time Sasuke was done talking. He put the glass on the floor next to the chair. If he remembered he'd probably put it in the sink before he went back to sleep.

"What are your theories?"

"I personally think that vampirism might have originated from some sort of disease. Did you know that consuming too much human blood can actually give you diabetes?"

"What? Really?" Naruto's interest levels rose.

"Yeah. And there are many, many diseases where various sicknesses ravage the white or red blood cells, depleting certain things the body needs. And in the old days doctors used to use leeches to bleed patients, hoping that the disease, thought to be a demon in the body, would be expelled. There's a lot of stuff like that."

Naruto watched Sasuke carefully while he spoke. "And I suppose this makes it more fun for you? The imagining it's closer to life than most people would think?"

"In a way, yes, it makes it more fun, as you put it. From another angle it's a bit of a comfort knowing science isn't lost on the supposedly supernatural aspects of people's lives."

"Wha--? I'm sorry, but all your big words are confusing my little brain."

"What I mean to say is that it's nice to know that nearly everything on Earth can be explained in some way or another."

"I see."

Naruto sat still for a while. He was feeling very sleepy again, but the idea of scars on his neck was bothering him, what with all this talk of vampires, and so he didn't quite want to go to sleep yet. But against his will, after a small while his eyes began to close once again, falling shut as if they had weights attached to the lashes. It was almost unnerving how Sasuke was looking at him.

"It's one in the morning," Naruto started blearily, "and you don't seem the least bit tired."

Sasuke yawned– but it looked a little forced. "Please believe me, I am. But this book is too interesting for my own good."

Naruto drew his knees up even closer than they had been before and started playing with his toes. It was an odd habit he had. Toes were just so_weird_. "Why don't you just force yourself to put it down and go to sleep?"

"Because I really really really really really really _really_want to know what happens."

Naruto got up again. He was going to sleep– to take his own advice before he became hypocritical and force himself to just up and leave and go back to bed.

But Sasuke stopped him when he was at his door.

"Naruto–" It was almost a choked sound– like Sasuke hadn't quite meant for it to escape. "I..."

It would be a bit of an understatement to say that Sasuke's outburst surprised Naruto. He hadn't expected him to speak.

"What?" Naruto asked curiously.

"May I see your neck for a second?" It was a cautious tone of voice. Sasuke seemed nervous, extremely so.

"_Why_?" It was such an odd question, Naruto felt obliged to inquire why Sasuke would ask such a thing.

"It's– it's just– please let me see it for just a second. I thought I saw– something unusual on it before." And now Sasuke was tripping over his words. How very odd.

Naruto cast him a strange look before walking over to his friend obligingly. "Okay, but I don't see why..." He tipped his head back slightly so Sasuke could see. And though Sasuke was out of sight because of his head's angle, when a slightly frustrated and anxious whoosh of breath escaped Sasuke Naruto knew something weird was up.

"What? What is it?" he asked, a little fearful. What did Sasuke see?

"When did you get these scars!?" Naruto snapped his head back down in an attempt to hid them. It was some how embarrassing that Sasuke knew about this.

"I don't know. There were a couple cuts there about a week ago, when I got back from the city– from visiting you. I thought it was weird, too."

Sasuke was suddenly serious. "Naruto, that's more than serious. You mean you really don't know how or when you got those?"

Naruto felt nervous. Sasuke looked almost mad at him. But why? He fidgeted. "No. I really don't. I suspect a bug or an accident while using art supplies."

"I don't think..." Sasuke began. He looked dubious.

"Don't think _what_?!" It all came out in a rush. Sasuke knew something, Naruto was sure of it. Something weird was going on here.

"There is absolutely no way that's the handiwork of a bug. Or an art knife, unless you did that intentionally to yourself. You didn't, did you?" Now he looked worried.

"Why would I do that?"

Sasuke shook his head as if to clear it. "I don't...I don't know."

"What do _you_think they are?" Naruto was suddenly agitated. He was tired and cranky and just woke up from a nightmare– and two in one night, what luck!– and Sasuke was just beating around the metaphorical bush. It was so _annoying_! "What the hell do you think they are?! You're acting like you know something, so if you do, _spill it_ already!" This whole thing was just so...so _aggravating_!

"Sit down for a minute."

"No! I'm sick of sitting down! I've been sitting down all day and right now I'm tired, but as you put it, I "really really really really really really _really_want to know what happens" next, so I can't very well just go away, now can I!"

"Sit. Down." There was such a sudden, harsh coldness to his voice that Naruto sat down, albeit reluctantly. He was still angry– but not even that. He'd just thrown a tantrum at one in the morning and he was, basically, just feeling overwhelmed.

"I don't get it. What the hell? I don't get it. Spill." Naruto folded his arms across his chest and took on a defensive, indignant posture.

"I'm trying, but if you keep on like this I don't know if I'll ever get a chance." Sasuke was clearly annoyed and thinking that Naruto was acting childish.

"Sor-_ree_."

Sasuke ignored the sarcasm and simply stared naruto straight in the eye as if waiting for him to calm down and really listen.

"Fine! Jesus, I give up already. What do you want to say?"

"That there was a fight and we were involved and you obviously suppressed the memory because it was a traumatic experience, a.k.a. you probably got bitten by something not quite human and not in any way related to a spider and since you have a merely human, fragile mind your subconscious did you a favor and helped you forget. Except I really need you to remember now because it could very well cost you your life and mine."

Naruto was thoroughly confused. "What the hell are you talking about? "Not quite human"? "Suppressed memories"? What?"

Sasuke was obviously frustrated. "I mean that something _else _bit you."

"But what else could it have been besides..." he stopped short.

Wait–_bitten_? His dreams rushed back to him. Blood everywhere, running down his sides and his face and–

Sasuke let out a held breath. Naruto knew what he was saying. He _knew_, Sasuke could tell. Everything was coming together. But he was feeling desperate inside, curiosity clawing at his rib cage. He really needed to know who had bitten Naruto while Sasuke had been fighting. There were some who were dangerous and there were some who merely hurt people by accident, but Sasuke wanted to be sure.

"Are you saying a vampire bit me?" Naruto was incredulous.

Sasuke stared at him dead on. "It's a likely possibility."

Continued in **1.7 (Epiphany)**

OH MY GOD. -pant gasp wheeze- I never, _NEVER_expected it to go fourteen freaking pages, but here you go! It just– it just wouldn't _stop_, no matter how much I thought about how to condense it! -crying- OH MY GOD.

Well, I hope you like it.

And why did only one person guess at my age? (You got it wrong, by the way.) Come on, guys, guess! It's not there're any _negative_consequences.

**Let me know what you thought, kay? Take a stab at guessing my age, tell me what you think was horribly, tragically wrong with this chapter, and then hand me some ice cream, because today is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and we all deserve to celebrate human rights. Pass the mint chocolate chip!**


	7. Epiphany Preview

Hi again! :D I know that it's been several months since I last updated, and truthfully, it's been several months since I've even thought about fanfiction....but lately, for whatever reason, I've come back and would like to continue to write this story, seeing as I already know how it ends. This here is a preview of the upcoming chapter Seven (Epiphany). Let me know if it's to your liking!

* * *

Naruto frowned. "That's ridiculous. You're ridiculous. You should stop reading so many vampire books. Good night." He moved to get up, but Sasuke's hand was suddenly gripping his elbow. He turned.

When his eyes fell upon Sasuke's face, Naruto realized that he wasn't GOING to be able to leave the room. Sasuke had something to say; and it was obvious that he needed Naruto to hear. So he sat back down.

Sasuke pulled his arm back and replaced himself on the couch opposite Naruto. Folding his hands in front of him in a familiarly pensive position, he slowly let out a large breath of air through his nostrils, as if not quite sure if he should let out a secret.

Naruto waited. He was still pissed off, that was for sure. And he was tired, and still shaken up from his nightmare. But Sasuke looked so SERIOUS...

After a while the silence became too much for Naruto and he blurted out his questions. "I don't know what you mean by vampires exactly, but I don't think that I was bitten by ANYTHING, even if we DID get in a fight. There'd be a bigger scar on my neck, wouldn't there? Like, flesh tearing and everything? And I'd be bruised from hitting a wall. And what do you MEAN I'm suppressing my memories?! I know for a fact that nothing much happened after we left the cafe; if it was even worth mentioning I'd remember it, right? Listen, you should just..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "It's too late for this."

Sasuke looked at him intensely, silently. And after Naruto was done rambling, he looked back. His guest looked tired-- exhausted, really-- and like he needed a break from-- whatever. They sat there in Naruto's worn-down apartment for an indeterminable length of time; the night's silence was heavy and void of interruptions. Neither of them said a word.

Until finally, moving with what looked like a great effort, Sasuke shifted on the couch, readjusting the blankets behind him. He pulled off this reading glasses, carefully folding them and setting them on the table. And as he did so, he spoke.

"Naruto, I need you to be patient and open-minded for a while, okay? Don't interrupt, don't ask questions, don't attempt to disprove the content of my speech before I'm finished speaking. Got it?" Naruto nodded. "Good." He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyelids.

"When we left that cafe it was very late, late enough that the trains were no longer running. But my home was close enough that we could go there, you agreed to come back with me.

"However, as we neared my building, we were ambushed. You, the sleepy and surprised human, had no idea what was going on, I'm sure. But our attackers did, and I'm fairly sure that I know now what was happening. We were being farmed....or at least that was what was supposed to be happening.

"You see, my family's got some major territorial issues, the main reason being that the only living member OF the family besides myself is my bastard of a brother. And...my brother isn't exactly kind. He knew that I was there and that I had someone with me...someone I guess he assumed was my dinner." He looked up at Naruto's face, riddled with confusion as it was.

"...Dinner?"


End file.
